Mumbai: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was shown no mercy on Saturday after the team incurred their eighth loss in the ongoing IPL 2024 to have their campaign hanging by a thread. Hardik’s captaincy was brutally criticised by cricket greats like Graeme Smith, Shane Watson and Irfan Pathan, who were rather left baffled that Mumbai failed to win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium after going 5 down for just 57 runs in 6.1 overs. However, amid the relentless criticism, the visuals of a shattered and dispirited Hardik from the MI dugout went viral on social media.
Nuwan Thushara’s three-wicket burst in the powerplay saw Mumbai gain the upper edge in the do-or-die battle for the five-time champions, as they had half of KKR’s batting lineup back in the hut early in the clash. And even though Jasprit Bumrah was nearly unplayable in the death overs where he picked up two wickets, KKR set a target of 170, courtesy of a patient knock of 70 from 52 from Venkatesh Iyer on the two-paced pitch, which included an 83-run stand alongside Manish Pandey.
MI’s top order collapsed, as it has been the story this season for them, before dew started to set in amid Suryakumar Yadav carving out a brilliant knock that kept the home team well on track for a likely win even until the start of the slog overs. But Andre Russell got better of the India batter before Mitchell Starc put on a stellar show with the old ball as MI were folded for just 145 runs.
Amid the lower-order collapse at the Wankhede, Hardik was seen completely disappointed as he covered his face at the sight of the dismissal of Tim David and Piyush Chawla. Later, with 26 required from the final nine balls with a wicket in hand, Hardik looked completely helpless and shattered.
