Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya's tactics are being scrutinised following the five-time champions' loss against Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Mumbai Indians, who reached a do-or-die encounter following a win over Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator, failed to defend 203 and hence crashed out of the tournament.

Former SunRisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody wasn't pleased with Hardik not bowling his full quota of four overs and rather trusting England pacer Reece Topley, who was playing his first match of the IPL 2025 season.

Hardik bowled just two overs, conceding 19 runs and taking the wicket of Josh Inglis. The pacer would have had another wicket had Trent Boult not dropped the catch of Nehal Wadhera. However, after his second over, Hardik opted to not bowl himself.

On the other hand, Reece Topley had a dismal day at the office, giving away 40 runs in three overs. Jasprit Bumrah also had an off-day, failing to take a single wicket, which was the main reason Punjab Kings ran away with the game.

"Hardik should have had a two-for. That second over, that catch that you'd expect Trent Boult to take 99 times out of 100.

He fresh-aired it. Not even a firm glove on it. He should have bowled. He was executing what was required on that surface," Moody told ESPNCricinfo.

"And that was an opportunity that was missed. He should have had a two-for, and I agree, he should have come back and grabbed the bull by the horns, and said, 'Right, okay, I'm going to bowl in here," he added.

'Topley looked like bowler conditioned for nets'

Moody also minced no words as he tore into Topley, saying the left-armer looked like a bowler "conditioned for nets". However, he also added that it would be unfair to pin the blame on the England quick considering he was playing his first match of the IPL 2025 season.

"Topley looked like a bowler that was conditioned for nets but way off the mark for real, high-pressure, competitive cricket," Moody said.

"That's what he was missing. It's very hard to come from being on top of your game, feeling you've got rhythm, bowling good areas in the nets, to suddenly transferring that to a pressure-game situation," he added.

Hardik Pandya also didn't utilise Mitchell Santner for his full quota as the New Zealand spinner bowled just two overs, giving away 15 runs.

Moody said that the left-armer was not called upon for more overs because of Shreyas Iyer's presence in the middle.

Eventually, Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 87 off 41 balls, guiding Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final, where they will take on RCB on Tuesday.

"I think Hardik looked at it because we knew that there were a couple of match-ups against Nehal and he didn't want to get the game away from him," said Moody.

Eventually, Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 87 off 41 balls, guiding Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final, where they will take on RCB on Tuesday.

"I think Hardik looked at it because we knew that there were a couple of match-ups against Nehal and he didn't want to get the game away from him," said Moody.