Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin questioned Hardik Pandya’s leadership after Mumbai Indians suffered an 18-run loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
Ashwin was left baffled after Pandya decided to bring on Mayank Markande against Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, who is known for his terrific hitting against the spinners. Patidar smashed Markande for three consecutive sixes and he was able to put MI on the backfoot. Markande conceded 40 runs in the two overs he bowled and went wicketless.
The RCB captain went on to score a blistering knock of 53 runs off just 20 balls as he took the game away from MI.
“Rajat Patidar is a monster hitter against spinner, and when he came into bat, you gave the ball straight to Mayank Markande. We have to understand what is going on in Markande’s mind. He had beaten him to a pulp in Hyderabad, and when Patidar came in, he was given the ball straightaway. Very very very very average, My head started spinning. This was the difference between 210 and 240. MI’s spinners gave 80 runs in six overs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin added that MI are struggling to get going despite having a potent team at their disposal.
“This was an important game for MI, and RCB showed that why they are the defending champions. They had a very tough game against RR, but to bounce back like this, it is not easy. It is a bit surprising to me, MI have a squad, they have really good players, but they are just not able to get it right. It’s not happening for the first time, it has been happening for 2-3 years now,” Ashwin said.
The former CSK all-rounder reckons RCB could have posted 260 runs on the board if not for Virat Kohli’s sluggish 38-ball 50-run knock.
“There is no right or wrong in this, I think sometimes you will have a day in T20 cricket where the tempo will be like this, because of that, you are not able to accelerate. Today, Virat was not able to accelerate. If RCB were able to get a power hitter like David or Shepherd earlier, they might have ended up with 260. What happened today with Kohli can happen to anyone, it happened with Ruturaj as well,” Ashwin opined.
Mumbai Indians will next take on Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.
