Hardik Pandya's 5 biggest captaincy blunders in IPL 2024 so far

Hardik Pandya has been the center of attention since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 began. After being announced as the leader of the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the ongoing season, Pandya received flak for ditching the Gujarat Titans (GT), whom he led to successive final appearances, including winning the title in 2022.

Moreover, Pandya's performances have also been disappointing, adding to the discontent among fans. In eight games, he has scored 151 runs and picked up only four wickets. Meanwhile, MI have emerged victorious on only three out of eight occasions.

On that note, let's check out the five captaincy blunders by Hardik Pandya in IPL 2024.

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1) Promoting Tim David ahead of him against Rashid Khan

In their first game of IPL 2024, the Mumbai Indians faced the Gujarat Titans. Courtesy of Jasprit Bumrah's sensational figures of 3/14 in four overs, MI restricted GT to 168. In response, they were cruising to a comfortable victory. with Dewald Brevis (46) and Rohit Sharma (43).

However, after the dismissals of Brevis and Sharma, they needed 39 runs from the last four overs. Despite Tim David's unproven skillset against spinners, Hardik Pandya promoted the Australian to face Rashid Khan.

As a result, the 17th over saw MI scoring only three runs, and the momentum shifted to the Titans. In the following over, Tim David hit a four but was dismissed by Mohit Sharma on the last ball.

With 19 needed off six balls, Pandya slapped a six and a four but was caught at long-on in the third ball. MI eventually lost the game by just six runs.

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2) Delaying Jasprit Bumrah's second spell against SRH

In a record-breaking game, which saw the SunRisers Hyderabad posting 277 on the board, Pandya made a major mistake in bowling changes. In his first over, Jasprit Bumrah gave only five runs. However, he was not brought back into the attack to contain the wrath of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who helped SRH cross the 100-run mark in seven overs.

In fact, Bumrah came for his second spell when SRH were at 173/2 in 12 overs. Although the veteran pacer did not pick up a wicket, he was the most economical bowler for MI with a rate of nine.

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3) Hardik Pandya's ordinary strike rate in chase of 277

One of the major talking points of the MI vs SRH game was Hardik Pandya's strike rate in a mammoth run chase. After the top-four batters laid a strong platform, Pandya could not utilize it and instead played some dot balls, which hurt the team's chances.

The MI captain contributed 24 off 20 balls at a strike rate of just 120, before getting dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat. Although, David slammed 42* off 22, Mumbai ultimately lost by 31 runs.

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4) Dropping Akash Madhwal against the Rajasthan Royals

Akash Madhwal was the emerging prospect for MI last season with 14 scalps in eight games. He shot into the limelight by registering figures of 5/5 against the Lucknow Super Giants. However, he did not find a place in the XI in the first three games.

In his first game this season, Madhwal helped Mumbai to open their account against the Rajasthan Royals with figures of 3/20. Although his form dipped in the following games, Pandya was criticized by fans for not giving a longer rope to Madhwal, after he was dropped against Rajasthan Royals on April 22.

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5) Keeping Nehal Wadhera out of XI for the first half of IPL 2024

Nehal Wadhera was impressive in the 2023 season, mustering 241 runs at a strike rate of 145.18. Although the southpaw was not expected to be a starter, he could have been used as an Impact player as well. However, Wadhera did not participate in any of the first seven games.

In his first game of IPL 2024 against the Royals, Wadhera smoked 49 off 24 balls to bail out MI from a precarious 52/4 in the eight over. He stitched together a 99-run stand with Tilak Varma (65) as MI posted 179 on the board. Nevertheless, the Royals chased down the score in less than 19 overs.