"At least play for yourself bro" - Fans react as Hardik Pandya gets dismissed cheaply in MI vs KKR IPL 2024 match
Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya came under fire again for his disappointing batting performance against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday, May 3.
Hardik Pandya was dismissed for just 1 off 3 balls at a crucial stage of the game, with Suryakumar Yadav needing an able partner to chase down the target of 170.
It all happened in the 12th over, as Andre Russell's good-length ball caught Pandya's leading edge and was holed out to Manish Pandey.
Check out the fans' reactions to Pandya's batting performance on X:
"Hardik Pandya at least play for yourself bro."
"Hardik Pandya spends more time on pitch during toss than batting."
This fan pointed out the switch of Pandya to Mumbai Indians after successfully leading the Gujarat Titans to successive final appearances (title in 2022).
"Hardik pandya taught me One decision can ruin your life, if life already going well just go with the flow, don't try to outsmart everything," one fan noted.
Most of the fans were not impressed by BCCI's decision to choose Pandya as the vice-captain for the T20 World Cup 2024.
"Seriously, @BCCI just selecting players seeing their previous record and not current performance. Hardik Pandya haven't been good at anything bating bowling or captaincy and BCCI not only select but also made him VC, one fan commented.
"Hardik Pandya is his current form does not deserve to represent India. 11 matches 198 runs with the bat. Bowled irregularly throughout the tournament with an economy of 11. Questionable with his captaincy. Horrible body language and has failed with squad management as well. I really hope he finds his form before the World Cup in the coming matches," this fan posted.
MI vs KKR: Hardik Pandya's Mumbai suffers another disappointing loss
The Mumbai-based franchise invited Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first. Although KKR were struggling at 57/5, they got strong support from Venkatesh Iyer (70) and Manish Pandey (42), which helped KKR to post 169. Jasprit Bumrah and Nuwan Thushara picked up three wickets, while Hardik Pandya had two scalps for MI.
In response, MI did not get off to a good start, as their key batters couldn't provide a notable start to the team. Although Suryakumar Yadav (56) was impressive and Tim David scored 24 off 20, the home team was bundled out for 145 and lost by 24 runs.
With this loss, MI are now in the penultimate position with only three wins in 11 league matches, and are out of the race to qualify for IPL 2024 playoffs. Meanwhile, KKR have all but qualified for the semis with seven wins in 10 league matches.