Former Team India selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth criticized Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya for his poor leadership in IPL 2026. Under Pandya’s captaincy, MI is ranked ninth in the points table.

The five-time champions are all but eliminated from playoff contention in this year’s tournament. Srikkanth had specifically criticized Pandya for his poor show in MI’s loss to Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on May 2.

Hardik Pandya fails against CSK

Hardik Pandya’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired as MI’s middle order failed to build on the decent start given to them by their top order. Pandya himself was at the forefront of this accident as he made 18 thorough runs off 23 deliveries.

MI could only muster 159/7 in their 20 overs. CSK reached the target with 8 wickets remaining when Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kartik Sharma reached fifties. Hardik Pandya also failed to hit the ball.

He is a plastic captain: Kris Srikkanth.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth criticized Hardik’s inability to kick in the middle.

“Look at the numbers – 18 runs off 23 balls. What is this? He is a plastic captain. Look at that partnership – what was the intention? What was Hardik Pandya trying to do? If you check the number of dotted balls in the middle overs, it is clear that there was no proper calculation or awareness of the game. The run rate fell very drastically during that phase,” he said.

“From the 6th or 7th over, they started with about 9 runs per over, but then they went down: 7, 7, an over of 13, then 10, then 6. After that, 5, 4, 3, 7, 4, that’s where they completely lost it between overs 12 to 16. Even towards the end, it was just 7 runs and 4 runs while Hardik was still batting. Honestly, I couldn’t understand what they were trying to do. do. What was the plan?

Srikkanth also spoke about how the opposition bowlers had discovered Pandya and how the MI captain had a glaring weakness in his game. “They won’t bowl in the slot again. They will lock it in. They knew if they bowled lengths, it would crush them. So they won’t bowl there,” Srikkanth said.

Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians’ poor form in IPL 2026

Not just Pandya, most of MI’s other big stars have been struggling to stay fit in IPL 2026. Big names like Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have performed poorly and Rohit Sharma’s absence due to injury has been extended.

Hardik’s own number this season is 146 runs in 8 matches with a strike rate of just 136 and an average of 20. His highest score has also been just 40 runs. With the ball it has been worse. Pandya has taken just 4 wickets at a barely credible average of 61.5. His economy rate has also been almost 12 hits. MI will take on Lucknow Super Giants on May 4 in their next match.

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