Sunil Gavaskar targeted Hardik Pandya and said, very ordinary bowling and captaincy – Dainik Savera Times

Mumbai: India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya faced sharp criticism from prominent former players after Mumbai Indians’ fourth defeat in the ongoing IPL and former batting great Sunil Gavaskar has criticized him for ‘very ordinary bowling and ordinary captaincy’ so far. . Hardik Pandya, who has been facing booing from fans since taking over the captaincy of Mumbai, had to face criticism from Gavaskar and former England captain Kevin Pietersen after the team’s 20-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday night.

Hardik Pandya gave away 26 runs in the last over of the innings in which Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit three sixes in a row. Gavaskar said during the break of the innings, ‘Oh, very ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy. Despite Ruturaj Gaikwad batting very well along with Shivam Dubey, they should have been stopped at a lower score. I believe they should have been restricted to 185-190 runs.’ He said, ‘Probably the worst bowling I have seen in a long time.’ Hardik Pandya took two wickets for 43 runs in three overs. And even while batting, he could score only two runs in six balls. Despite former captain Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten inning of 105 runs in 63 balls, Mumbai team could only score 186 runs for six wickets while chasing the target of 207 runs.

Pietersen believes that this star all-rounder is being affected by external criticism. He said, ‘I really think that things outside the game are influencing Hardik Pandya a lot. He smiles a lot when he goes for the toss. He’s trying to act like he’s very happy. he is not happy. This has happened to me. “I’ve been through it and I can tell you it affects you.”

He said, ‘The booing we are hearing right now. I know they were happy with the former Super Kings captain (Dhoni) playing shots against him (Hardik Pandya) all over the ground, it hurts you. Because they have feelings. He’s an Indian player and he doesn’t want to be treated like this so when it happens it affects him. It is affecting his cricket.” Pietersen also wondered why Hardik Pandya did not use his spinners when the Super Kings batsmen were scoring runs easily against the fast bowlers.