Mumbai Indians (MI) opened the 17th edition of the IPL 2024 with a defeat to Gujarat Titans (GT) by 6 runs. The Hardik Pandya-led franchise had a bad start to the IPL after he took over the reins from Hitman and India captain Rohit Sharma.
As the match culminated in a defeat for MI, veteran cricketer and commentator Irfan Pathan has attributed the team’s loss to Hardik Pandya’s fear. Taking to his Instagram handle, he shared a video and explained how Hardik Pandya’s mistakes cost Mumbai Indians (MI) the game which they could have easily won.
“Two mistakes cost MI the game. Welcome to captaincy Shubman Gill,” Pathan shared.
He added, “Hardik Pandya ne aaj match main do badi galtiyan ki. Powerful main jab woh game baaz karne aye, khud do over daldi. Woh ek galti thi, Bumrah ko thoda late leke aye. Aur dusra, jab balebaazi kar rahe the, toh Tim David ko agge bheja. Tim David ko agge tab bheja, jab Rashid Khan ki 1 over bachi thi. Mujhe laga shayad Hardik Pandya face nahin karna chahte Rashid Khan ko. Bahut time se cricket nahin khele. Shayad yehi wajah ho sakti hai. Warna yeh nahin manta ki Indian khiladi dressing room main beetha ho, experienced baalebaaz ho aur overseas khiladi pressure me batting karne aye. Wahan pe game fasa.”
The former fast pacer also heaped praises on Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubhman Gill and said, “Welcome to captaincy, Shubman Gill. Bahut achi captany (sic) ki iss young captain ne.”