Jaipur's damp squib shows Hardik Pandya it may not always be okay to be unique
"Cricket is simple; as long as we keep it simple, it's nice," Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya said with a wry smile when asked by the host broadcaster about how his team would respond to the drubbing in Jaipur at the hands of the mighty Rajasthan Royals (RR).
While the Royals flexed their muscles at home and showed why they were table toppers, one has to ask whether Hardik's 'keep it simple' ideology reflected in his decision-making on Monday. A crucial part of keeping things simple in cricket is taking your catches and MI dropping some simple opportunities certainly didn't help their cause.
Some of the booing and the criticism around Hardik Pandya's return to the Mumbai Indians as their new captain and the abuses that have followed are certainly unacceptable. However, his decisions as a captain and his performances as a player would be questioned from a practical and neutral point of view.
At the toss before the start of the fifth T20I against West Indies last year, Hardik Pandya was reminded that a loss would end India's streak of successive T20I series wins. He replied with 'It's okay to be unique', but the hot seat of MI captaincy may have made him realize that being unique may not always be a great idea.
Hardik Pandya's tricky entry points and risky gut instincts - a one-off or a pattern?
Nehal Wadhera and Tilak Varma added a sensational 99 runs for the fifth wicket, which helped MI recover from a precarious situation of 52/4 while batting first. Wadhera got dismissed in the 17th over and with just 23 balls remaining, the idea on most occasions should be to send the big-hitter out to bat. In Mumbai's case, that big-hitter was Tim David.
However, Hardik Pandya decided to promote himself up the order. If the idea was to shield David with an over of Yuzvendra Chahal left, the ploy failed for a couple of reasons.
Although Tim David has been dismissed 21 times by wrist spinners in T20 cricket, he has a strike rate of 151.02 and has hit 49 sixes against these types of bowlers. With just under four overs remaining, David's mindset would certainly not have been to see out Chahal's over, and the clarity could have possibly helped him to get the big hits.
Secondly, even if Hardik Pandya walked out before David, the MI captain showed no real intent to tear into Chahal. He scored run-a-ball 10 and was dismissed after missing a full toss that had him trapped in front. Losing the two reviews as well on the last two balls he faced summed up his performance as a player and captain so far.
The idea to see off the wrist spinner Rashid Khan was logical during MI's opening game of IPL 2024 against the Gujarat Titans (GT) as they knew the required run rate, a case opposite to the one in Jaipur where they had to set the target. However, MI promoted Tim David there.
Hardik Pandya promoted himself ahead of David in the run-chases against the SunRisers Hyderabad and the Chennai Super Kings. On both occasions, his team had an outside chance of chasing the target down. But his knocks of 24 (20) and 2 (6), respectively, played a massive role in derailing the momentum. Getting entry points wrong is quickly becoming a pattern.
The bowling changes haven't been great either. Gerald Coetzee was the only bowler on Monday who troubled Yashasvi Jaiswal when the southpaw survived a couple of early scares in the fourth over. When did Coetzee bowl his next over? When RR needed 29 off 30 balls and when Jaiswal was unbeaten on 87 off 48 balls.
The Royals needed just 85 runs off 10 overs with nine wickets in hand. Sanju Samson was still relatively new to the crease. Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, and Nuwan Thushara had a combined seven overs left. Who does Hardik turn to? Mohammad Nabi for his third over on the trot.
Naturally, the RR batters had already lined the off-spinner up and smashed him for 14 runs in the 11th over. Surely now it's time to turn to the main bowlers right? Hardik thought otherwise. He brought himself on in the 12th over to the surprise of the commentators, cricket experts as well as probably the lakhs of MI fans who helplessly watched this unfold in front of their TV sets.
After conceding 10 more runs, Hardik still felt the need to complete Piyush Chawla's quota of overs by bowling him four on the trot before bringing Bumrah back. However, by the time the star pacer returned for another spell, the match was as good as done with 45 needed off 36 deliveries.
The same Hardik Pandya couldn't trust his wrist spinner to complete the four-over quota in the past couple of games. Hindsight is a beautiful place to be as many would suggest that Tim David didn't make any contribution of note and that a target of 180 wasn't going to be enough.
However, the bare minimum a captain can do is get his bowling changes right and squeeze the opposition into making mistakes. Samson and Jaiswal deep down would have been delighted to not face the likes of Bumrah and Coetzee before the required rate went below run-a-ball in their partnership.
Is Hardik Pandya's performances as a player affecting his captaincy?
Almost every MI game this season has thrown up at least one bowling change from Hardik Pandya that has left most of the cricket fraternity with their heads scratching. The sudden urge to bowl himself after a brief period of games where he didn't bowl at all is a huge cause for concern for Mumbai.
Several reports have been circling around about Hardik's spot in India's T20 World Cup squad being in jeopardy and how that may depend on how he is bowling. Some cricket pundits have even questioned Hardik's fitness and his ability to bowl consistently.
Jos Buttler's negative match-up against Jasprit Bumrah, coupled with Jaiswal's woeful form until Monday was enough for Hardik Pandya to hand the new ball to his main weapon straightaway. However, the all-rounder took the first over and conceded a run more than he scored already in a span of six balls. These small things play a massive role in shifting momentum.
Someone who didn't take the new ball after the opening game against the Titans suddenly felt the need to do so. One has to question whether Hardik tried to prove a point that he could bowl more than anything else. If that's the case, was it the right thing to do and not focus on what was best for MI at that moment as the captain?
It took eight matches for MI to realize Nehal Wadhera's importance and the southpaw made his presence felt with a quickfire 49 off 24 balls. However, he was also quick to acknowledge that his shelled chance of Jaiswal in the 10th over was a massive moment in the game.
"I dropped a sitter. Probably if I would have grabbed that catch, the game would have been different," Wadhera said in the post-match presser.
While Nehal was quick to accept his mistake, Hardik gave a rather generic answer about players needing to accept their flaws, without particularly naming himself. The all-rounder has scored just 151 runs in eight matches and has an economy rate of 10.94.
"Progression is very important and within the team we will have to accept our flaws and maybe work on those," Hardik said to the host broadcaster.
Former South African speedster Dale Steyn's post about generic post-match quotes sums up the lack of accountability that most players these days take with their words. Here's what Steyn posted:
One of the major upsides of players being honest and speaking their minds out is that it gives validation to loyal fans that despite the loss, the individuals are aware of where they are going wrong.
Hardik Pandya has often been in the limelight for the wrong reasons when it comes to his post-match quotes and this is certainly something he may need to consider. After all, he is leading a team that has won the IPL five times and a fanbase that would demand accountability.
Mumbai Indians are on the brink of being eliminated from the race to the playoffs and this is certainly not an unknown territory for them. However, the current outfit under Hardik Pandya looks like the shadow of the MI team that has shown character to make comebacks.
Former legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has been pretty vocal about how passionate an MI fan he is. However, the words 'This is not the team that I know' from him on air describe a feeling that several other loyal Mumbai Indians supporters may echo.
MI's owners have shown that they can make ruthless decisions if results don't go their way and that's something captain Hardik Pandya and coach Mark Boucher would be best aware of.
As a famous saying goes, 'The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none' and some honest conversations about his form as a player and captain would not harm Hardik Pandya. The 'MI blood' seems to have lost his way and there could be just one guiding light - the 'MI DNA'.