‘Better death bowler compared to Hardik Pandya’: Wasim Jaffer on MI captain’s mistakes | Cricket News

Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer believes Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya should replace Aakash Mah in the 20th over of the Chennai Super Kings innings Akash Madhwal’s decision to bowl was a “controversial” one. Jasprit Bumrah bowled the ball in the 19th over, giving Hardik the option of bowling the final ball or having Akash Madhwal finish for MI Number of Board. It seemed like a far-fetched idea that Hardik took over the burden and ended up conceding 26 runs which, coupled with MS Dhoni’s hat-trick of six, took CSK to 206/4.

Chasing 207, Hardik struck out at a rate below 13. The MI skipper will hopefully live up to his reputation as a finisher. However, Tushar Deshpande’s bouncers sent him back to the dressing room.

“Well, I guess if I have to criticize his captaincy, I guess the 20th ball he bowled was probably questionable. I thought he did a good job of not spinning the bowling to Dube. Batting-wise, He could have done well. I think it’s only in the 20th match whether he should bowl or Akash Madhwal is controversial, compared to Hardik, he could be. A better death bowler,” Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo’s Timed Out show.

The 20-run defeat to Chennai Super Kings was their fourth defeat in six games this season. The five-time champion has four points and a negative running percentage of .234, ranking eighth.

Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody believes that in order to turn the season around, Hardik needs to tap into the wealth of experience around him.

“It’s a challenge but he’s got a lot of good people around him. You look in the dugout, he’s got a lot of experience, a lot of international experience, a lot of IPL experience. On the field, there’s someone who has a lot of experience and that’s That’s what he needs to draw from, he’s got to draw from those experiences and try to steer the ship in the right direction,” Moody said.

MI will look to get back to their winning ways when they take on Kings XI Punjab at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Thursday.

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