IPL 2018: 4 major disappointments for Mumbai Indians
Much to the disappointment of all the fans of the Mumbai Indians, the franchise's journey in IPL 2018 has come to a crashing end. With Delhi Daredevils handing them a defeat, the defending champions' hopes of making it to the playoffs were blown away.
While Mumbai Indians did manage to gather momentum in their final few games, it was their poor run of form in the initial stages that dented their chances this year. With several big guns failing to deliver the goods consistently, they were found wanting on multiple occasions and ended up losing games that they should have run away with. Here are 4 players from Mumbai Indians who proved to be major disappointments this year.
#4 Hardik Pandya (with the bat)
At the start of the season, Hardik Pandya was expected to be one of the shining lights for Mumbai Indians this year. Being one of the three retained players ahead of the auction, the Jr Pandya came into the squad as one of the senior pros expected to take up the responsibility with both bat and ball.
While Pandya stood out as Mumbai's leading wicket-taker this season, it was with the bat that the man from Gujarat failed on several occasions. Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard's lack of form meant that the 24-year-old had to take the onus of finishing off the games for his team.
However, unlike the previous editions, he couldn't quite manage to win games for Mumbai with the bat this year. In fact, Pandya's bizarre innings (3 runs off 19 balls) against Sunrisers Hyderabad while chasing a target of 119 drew the ire of the internet trolls and stands as a glaring example of his ordinary outings this year.