Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Mohamad Nabi shared a fan's Instagram story on his account, which criticized skipper Hardik Pandya following the team's nine-run win over the Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on Thursday.
MI successfully defended a 193-run target to secure their third win of the season. They bowled only two overs of spin in the run chase, with leg spinner Shreyas Gopal bowling those overs. Nabi did not get to bowl in the encounter.
A fan shared an Instagram story, slamming skipper Pandya for not bringing Nabi into the attack throughout the innings. The veteran Afghan player also reshared the post, leading to the Mumbai supporters speculating whether all was well in the MI camp. It is worth mentioning that Mohammad Nabi later deleted the aforementioned Instagram story.
The story reshared by Nabi read:
"Some of your captain's decisions are very strange and surprise people!? Nabi didn't bowl today!"
Mohammad Nabi has bowled just six overs across four outings in IPL 2024. He is yet to pick up a single wicket this season and has conceded runs at an economy rate of 7.17.
Mumbai eked out a narrow win against Punjab last night. They looked in the driver's seat after PBKS were reeling at 77/6 in 9.2 overs. However, Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh gave PBKS some hope, scoring 61 and 41, respectively.
Their heroics went in vain as PBKS ultimately slumped to their fifth loss of IPL 2024. MI, on the other hand, secured their third victory in seven games and are currently placed seventh in the points table.
"Everyone's nerve got tested" - Hardik Pandya on MI's thrilling win against PBKS
Speaking at the post-match presentation, MI captain Hardik Pandya expressed his pleasure over his team ending up on the winning side in the closely fought battle.
Pandya also lauded Ashutosh Sharma for his valiant knock. He said:
"Very good game of cricket. Everyone's nerve got tested. We did speak about before the game that the character will be checked in this game. Naturally you think you're ahead in the game. But we knew IPL has a tendency to produce these games."
"Unbelievable - coming in and playing like that (Ashutosh's knock). Almost every ball hitting the middle. Happy for him and chuffed for his future. We did speak in the timeout that it doesn't matter how good we look. We'll keep scrapping in this game. We were quite soft in certain overs. Nevertheless, a win is a win." added Pandya.
MI will not take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday, April 22.
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