Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has copped the blame for the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) performance in the IPL 2026. The former champions suffered their seventh loss in nine games, leaving them ninth in the points table and out of the playoff race.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) completed a double over their arch-rivals as they won the game by eight wickets in front of their home fans. Former Indian skipper Kris Srikkanth blasted Pandya’s captaincy after the tame surrender at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men in what was a must-win game.
Taking to his YouTube channel, the 66-year-old reviewed the game and said, “18 runs from 23 balls? What’s this? He (Pandya) is a plastic captain.”
At one stage, MI looked set to post a much bigger score on the board, but Hardik failed to get going with the bat and his side ended up scoring a below-par 159 runs.
Ex-World Cup winner calls out MI skipper over poor form
After the CSK vs MI game, Srikkanth had a go at the 25-run stand between MI’s skipper and Plant Manwhich came off 24 balls and hurt the momentum. Naman’s 37-ball 57 was the top score for MI before Jamie Overton dismissed him with Sarfaraz Khan taking a stunning catch.
“Look at the partnership; there was hardly any intent. What was Pandya doing? The dot balls in the middle overs show a lack of planning and awareness. There was also a massive dip in the run-rate in that stage of the innings. In all honesty, one cannot figure out what the plan was,” opined India’s 1983 World Cup winner.
Tilak Varma taken to task after loss to CSK
Young Tilak Varma endured yet another poor outing as he batted for eight balls to score five runs. The left-handed batter had raised hopes of returning to his best form after a century against the Gujarat Titans, but sadly, the youngster has seen his performances dip.
While speaking about Tilak’s batting, the ex-Indian star mentioned, “He (Verma) kept wasting the deliveries and piled up pressure. Barring the century against GT, he has struggled this season. Having one good day cannot make up for the other bad performances, and his batting hasn’t been up to the mark.”
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