Delhi: Australian team's veteran wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist has questioned the fitness of Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Wankhede Stadium. Great wicketkeeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit three consecutive sixes against the star all-rounder. Despite taking two wickets, Hardik had to face criticism for his performance. In such a situation, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar also described his bowling and captaincy as “normal”.

At the same time, Gilchrist said that Hardik's bowling looks scattered, which lacks consistency. Gilly believes that despite his determination, it was clear that he was not 100 percent physically fit.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, 52-year-old Adam Gilchrist said, “The only positive thing about Hardik Pandya and his bowling was that he was ready to take the challenge. I'm the captain, I'm going to get hurt, but then he looks happy, as we use in the context of Australian sport, you're not 'fit' enough. “He doesn’t look anywhere near 100 per cent fit with the ball in hand and if there was any doubt about his physical ability, his bowling was scattered.”

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Dhoni hit 3 consecutive sixes against Hardik

It is known that Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first. It seemed a good decision because fast bowler Gerald Coetzee had dismissed Ajinkya Rahane much earlier. Chennai batted slowly in the powerplay, but when they lost the wicket of Rachin Ravindra, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dubey took charge of their team's innings with aggressive batting. Both scored quick half-centuries and Dubey continued batting till the end.

At the same time, Jasprit Bumrah once again performed brilliantly for Mumbai and bowled well in the death overs, but Hardik decided to bowl the last over himself. He definitely got one wicket, but then he gave away 20 runs in the last 4 balls. During this, Dhoni hit 3 consecutive sixes in his over, which made the difference to the defeat of Mumbai Indians. Chennai Super Kings defeated MI by 20 runs.

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