Mumbai Indians made a decision beyond comprehension against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 30. They selected all-rounder Shardul Thakur as their impact player. But surprisingly, Thakur, who was an impact player, did not bowl a single ball nor did he go to bat.

The Impact Player rule allows all Indian Premier League teams to make tactical changes depending on the situation. Shardul Thakur can play with both bat and ball. Mumbai Indians did a good job with the bat, especially from their opener, Ryan Rickelton, who registered a century in this match, but their bowlers did very little to protect the first innings total.

Shardul Thakur’s role as impact submarine still unclear

Shardul Thakur became part of the combination against Sunrisers Hyderabad in place of Robin Minz. Minz is a batsman and Shardul Thakur is a bowling all-rounder. Understandably, instead of a regular batsman, Shardul’s addition to the line-up strengthened the bowling side of the team.

Taking everyone by surprise, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya did not ask the all-rounder to bowl a single over. As an impact player, Shardul Thakur only did field work. It was news for Indian cricket fans. Why didn’t Pandya use Shardul while most of his players were struggling against the Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman? It remains a mystery.

SRH batsmen played with Mumbai Indians bowlers

Batting first, Ryan Rickelton’s unbeaten knock of 123 runs took MI to 243 runs in 20 overs in return for 5 wickets. On a batting-friendly platform at Wankhede Stadium, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma started SRH’s innings with an aggressive approach. Sharma (45), Head (76), Heinrich Klassen (65 not out off 30) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) brought SRH home safely, finishing the match in just 18.4 overs.

Mumbai Indians bowling statistics against SRH on April 29 at Wankhede Stadium:

Trent Boult – 4.0 overs, 0 maidens, 41 runs, 1 wicket (Economy: 10.25)

Jasprit Bumrah – 4.0 overs, 0 maidens, 54 runs, 0 wickets (Economy: 13.50)

Will Jacks – 1.0 over, 0 maidens, 19 runs, 0 wickets (Economy: 19.00)

Allah Ghazanfar – 4.0 overs, 0 maidens, 51 runs, 2 wickets (Economy: 12.75)

Ashwani Kumar – 2.0 overs, 0 maidens, 41 runs, 0 wickets (Economy: 20.50)

Hardik Pandya (c) – 3.4 overs, 0 maidens, 39 runs, 1 wicket (Economy: 10.64)

Pandya said they did not have enough bowling options.

After the match, the MI captain said that they were lacking options in the bowling department. However, he did not blame any bowler for the loss.

“I think this season we don’t have much of a choice, we really need to see what differences we can make. I won’t put my players under the bus. I think as an overall unit we haven’t been able to do exactly what Mumbai Indians stand for. We really need to see what we have to work on and that’s okay,” Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya said after the match.

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