"This team doesn't seem to be playing unitedly at all" - Irfan Pathan criticizes Mumbai Indians' batting in IPL 2024 loss to KKR
Irfan Pathan has criticized the Mumbai Indians' (MI) batting in their IPL 2024 loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and noted that the five-time champions haven't played as a unit.
KKR set MI a 170-run target after being asked to bat first in Mumbai on Friday, May 3. The visitors then bundled Hardik Pandya and company out for 145 to win the game by 24 runs and knock the hosts out of the tournament.
Reviewing the game on Star Sports, Pathan was asked about his thoughts on the Mumbai Indians failing to chase 170 against an attack that has conceded more than 200 runs multiple times.
"That too at the Wankhede where the ground is small and when it gets slightly wet, the ball comes nicely onto the bat. The pitch won't be extremely flat always. It will get slightly dry. The pitch was slightly slow because of the heat but it wasn't a pitch with uneven bounce," he responded.
"Suryakumar Yadav seemed to be the only batter who could have won the game. He got out while trying to play a shot and then Mitchell Starc took a huge wicket (Tim David's). The match was over there - Suryakumar Yadav's wicket and then Tim David. This team doesn't seem to be playing unitedly at all," the former India all-rounder added.
Pathan also questioned Pandya's captaincy during KKR's innings. He claimed the Mumbai Indians wouldn't have had to chase a 170-run target had Naman Dhir not been given three overs, including two after Shreyas Iyer and company had been reduced to 57/5.
"Their batters have lost them more matches" - Harbhajan Singh on the Mumbai Indians
![Rohit Sharma has endured a horror run in his last four innings. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/05/f602b-17147962045013-1920.jpg?w=500)
Harbhajan Singh noted that the Mumbai Indians' batting has let them down more than their bowling.
"You have not done both things right. We were saying that their bowling is weak on paper. However, if we check their records, their batters have lost them more matches, their bowlers haven't lost them as many matches. The toss becomes very crucial here but if we see this entire match, they batted poorly," he said.
The former India spinner added that MI would have suffered a bigger loss if Suryakumar Yadav hadn't played a fighting knock.
"They were overconfident and probably didn't bat with the sincerity they could have batted with. It's not that this wasn't a chasable score. It could have been chased easily. They lost their first three wickets quickly and then the spinners attacked them. If Suryakumar Yadav had not fought, they would have been left far behind," Harbhajan observed.
Suryakumar top-scored for MI with a 35-ball 56. Tim David (24) was the only other player to score more than 15 for the hosts.