The Mumbai Indians’ hopes of qualifying for the playoffs were further complicated on Friday after they suffered their fourth straight loss in the 2024 Indian Premier League. With just three victories in 11 games, the club will now need to hope that other teams have favorable outcomes and win all of their remaining games to guarantee a postseason berth. In yet another dismal batting performance, MI lost by 24 runs to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
MI was bowled out for 145 after chasing a 170-run total, with skipper Hardik Pandya and star batsman Rohit Sharma failing to score once again. With the exception of Suryakumar Yadav (56), no batter was able to make an impression for the team as it suffered its eighth loss of the season. Irfan Pathan, a former all-rounder for India, attacked Hardik once more after the defeat, saying he doesn’t receive the “respect” from his teammates. Pathan has been scathing of Hardik’s poor play and game management throughout the season.
Irfan took issue with Hardik’s decision to put in Naman Dhir after MI had chosen to bowl and had cut KKR to 57/5. The MI captain bowled Dhir’s next two overs, which yielded eight and eleven runs, respectively. Irfan felt that when the opposition was weak, Hardik refrained from bringing one of his principal bowlers, which allowed Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey to form a partnership.
The tale of the Mumbai Indians stops here. This was a really talented squad on paper, but it was poorly run. The criticisms directed on Hardik Pandya’s leadership were quite valid. You didn’t need to give Naman Dhir three consecutive overs after restricting KKR to 57/5. You handed your sixth bowler three overs and were required to bring your key bowlers. Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey demonstrated a solid working relationship. Irfan said, “You could have bowled them out on 150 instead of letting them score 170.”
“In the game, captaincy has a significant effect. Management must take into account the fact that the Mumbai Indians don’t appear to be a cohesive entity. On the pitch, we saw a lack of respect and acceptance for the captain among the players. They need to do better in that area.
The last three games of the Mumbai Indians’ season are against teams who are presently ranked in the top four. Next up for them is a rematch with Sunrisers Hyderabad, who earlier in the season when the two teams met notably smashed the record for the highest IPL total (SRH went on to beat that record in their match against RCB).
Their next two matches will be against KKR and Lucknow Super Giants.
