Team atmosphere is chaotic, and Hardik Pandya is under pressure: Shocking allegations follow MI’s loss to KKR
Following their depressing loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium, the Mumbai Indians, the five-time defending champions, came under fire from former South African captain Graeme Smith. In addition, KKR’s 12-year winless streak against MI at home, where they had fallen short 1-9 in their previous meeting, came to an end with the defeat. Smith referred to MI as a “confused unit” and attacked the Hardik Pandya-led team. He pointed to one of the causes for MI’s poor results as the upheavals that occurred during the early stages of their campaign, when Hardik replaced Rohit Sharma as captain.
Smith also recommended starting Tilak Varma at position number three, then Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya at positions four and five, respectively. Hardik is a true fighter. He appeared to be a man under duress, which has undoubtedly caused some agitation in the surrounding area and who knows how it has impacted others. However, even their batting order gave off the impression that they were lost. You know, I believe Wadhera and Tilak Varma to be of the middle order. With Naman Dhir batting at number three tonight, they are scuttling everywhere. Following the game, Graeme Smith said on Jio Cinema, “They should have had Tilak at 3, SKY at 4, and Hardik at 5 through the season, David at 6, and then figure out your bowling unit.”
This year, they have simply been a very perplexed squad. The performance of one of the major franchises in this year’s IPL has been incredibly disappointing. He went on, “And, you know, a lot of people—the MI fan base and MI camp—will be very, very sore tonight.” The legendary South African player also questioned whether MI’s management team needed to assemble their team for the upcoming season.
Dewald Brevis, for example, has been a member of the team for years but hasn’t really been given many opportunities or taken advantage of them. According to Smith, the leadership group will likely need to make a few decisions over the upcoming year. With just 3 victories from 11 games, MI is now ranked ninth in the points table, making their chances of making the playoffs appear slim.
