“Are Hardik Pandya, Tim David that bad?”: Virender Sehwag lashes out at MI, demands serious action

Former India batsman Virender Sehwag on Friday questioned Mumbai Indians (MI)’s tactics during their 24-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2024 match. Chasing the target of 170 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bowled out for 145 runs in 18.5 overs. Analyzing the match, Sehwag said he was “surprised” by captain Hardik Pandya and Tim David’s arrival at No. 7 and 8 respectively in the lineup. Sehwag had asked a similar question for KKR after star all-rounder Andre Russell batted lower down the order.

“KKR saved Andre Russell; he played only two balls. Mumbai Indians saved Hardik Pandya and Tim David. What did you achieve by doing that? There were many balls left and they were all out. You could have come first, or Maybe you could have finished the game earlier. I don’t know what happens to them when they chase… Hardik Pandya on seven and Tim David on 8. I don’t understand what they did wrong. That if they come earlier they will get out?” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

Sehwag also criticized Hardik for batting lower down the order for MI and pointed out how the all-rounder used to bat at the top for Gujarat Titans. He said that MI owners should take serious action against the players and management.

“When Hardik Pandya was the captain of GT, he batted at number four continuously. What has happened here? It amazes me that experienced players are falling so low.”

“I am astonished by this. The management should take strict action on the players and ask them what is happening. Or, the players should speak about why their batting position has been changed. Captain, batting coach, bowling coach And the support staff are at fault here. The owners need to ask tough questions,” he said.

Speaking on the defeat, Hardik said after the game that his team failed to build any necessary partnerships, and there are a lot of questions that will take time to answer, but he has nothing much to say at the moment.

“I mean obviously in the batting innings, we couldn’t build partnerships and kept losing wickets, in T20 if you don’t build partnerships, you will suffer for it. Not much, there are a lot of questions which will take some time to understand. It would seem that Pandya said in the presentation after the match, please answer but there is nothing much to say right now.