Former Indian Test opener questioned Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after Mumbai Indians suffered a three-wicket loss (DLS method) against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in the ongoing IPL 2025 on Tuesday. Pandya gave the ball to Deepak Chahar for the final over when GT needed 15 runs to win.
However, Chahar could not defend the score as the visitors were able to get over the line. Rahul Tewatia got the boundary on the first ball as the cleared mid-off fielder. On the third ball, Gerald Coetzee smashed a six to put GT in front. Furthermore, Chahar made the mistake of overstepping on the next ball as MI lost from a shoo-in position.
Aakash Chopra said Hardik Pandya should have bowled himself in the last over.
“The question was whether Hardik should have bowled the last over. Why was it given to Deepak Chahar? I would have loved him (Hardik) to bowl. There are two or three big reasons for that. If man-to-man marking is done, who bowls more overs at the death? It’s not Deepak Chahar,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra recalled that Pandya bowled a match-winning final over against South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup final.
“Hardik Pandya bowled the last over in the World Cup final. He won the trophy. So Hardik Pandya should have bowled. Secondly, if we again do man-to-man marking, Hardik Pandya bowls faster than Deepak Chahar. He can bowl faster, has an off-cutter variation, and a left-hander was at the other end,” he observed.
The renowned commentator reckons MI’s think tank made a tactical error in giving the final over to Deepak Chahar.
“That was a tactical mistake from the Mumbai camp because there are many analysts and knowledgeable people in the Mumbai camp. So it would have been a collective decision. I thought they just miscalculated it. Deepak Chahar could have bowled better, but I think Hardik made a mistake, and they lost crucial two points,” Chopra elaborated.
Mumbai Indians will next take on Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Sunday.
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