Apart from this, the way captain Hardik Pandya handled Jasprit Bumrah, one of the best bowlers in the world, in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad is beyond comprehension. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma tore apart Mumbai's bowling with sixes and fours in all parts of the ground. But Hardik Pandya has not implemented any plan to control them. While Hyderabad scored 40 runs in the first 3 overs, Bumrah bowled the fourth over and gave only 5 runs. But after this Hardik Pandya did not use Bumrah till the 12th over.

Why did Hardik Pandya fail to use Bumrah, the influential bowler in world cricket, at the right place? Cricket critics and commentators do not hesitate to ask these questions. After Hyderabad scored 173 runs in 12 overs, Pandya included Bumrah. But after that no magic could be done. Perhaps if Bumrah had been used earlier, Hyderabad could have limited the run accumulation to some extent. Even if it was limited to 30 runs, it would have helped Mumbai reach the target. Pandya was also criticized for not trusting Kwena Mbaka, who played for the South Africa under-19 team.

Inexperienced Quena Mapaka gave away 66 runs in 4 overs. Every time there was a deformity in his delivery. However, Pandya gave him full 4 overs. Not only this, Pandya gave the last over to inexperienced spinner Shams Mulani and somehow paved the way for the Hyderabad team to score a record breaking score without any problem. While chasing the target of 278 runs, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Naman Dheer played aggressively with a strike rate of more than 200. Tilak Verma's strike rate was 188. But Hardik Pandiao played at a strike rate of 120. He entered the field in the 10.5th over and was out after scoring 24 runs in 20 balls when he was supposed to play the action. Their poor batting led to massive stagnation in the chase.

It was mainly the 13th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar that created the big turning point in the game. Hardik Pandya scored only 4 runs in 5 balls in this over. This was a decisive over which took Mumbai to the brink of defeat. Hardik Pandya and Tim David together ruined the 15th over bowled by Pat Cummins. Tilak Warva was out at the beginning of this over and could score only 3 runs on the remaining 5 balls.

When 93 runs were needed from 30 balls, Jaydev Unthagad bowled the 16th over and tested Tim David. In this over, Tim David scored only 2 runs on 4 balls. Meanwhile, Pandya added 2 runs in 2 balls. In these 3 overs, Mumbai team could score only 13 runs. This made a huge difference to the game. Hardik Pandya, who struggled with the use of bowlers, failed to overcome that shortcoming with the bat.

Considering the need of run rate, his inability to play aggressively became one of the reasons for the defeat of the Mumbai team. It has become a challenge for Hardik Pandya to overcome two consecutive defeats and criticism of his leadership. Mumbai will first face Rajasthan Royals on their home ground. This match may put additional pressure on Hardik Pandya.

Hardik Pandya seemed to have done well as the captain of Gujarat Titans in the last two seasons. But coach Ashish Nehra gave him effective guidance. Shubhman Gill, Ritiman Saha, Sai Sudarshan, Vijay Shankar, David Miller and Rahul Devatia made major contributions in batting. Mohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami were responsible for the bowling. Rashid Khan and Noor Mohammad also joined him. The accumulation of victories was possible because the entire team worked together.

But the culture of Mumbai team is different. Hardik Pandya earlier used to perform well with the team as an all-rounder. But now the responsibility of captain has also been added. Accordingly, he may take some time to prepare himself. Apart from this, Hardik Pandya can get great benefits by working with experienced Rohit Sharma. But fans are concerned that it never happened on the field.