Hardik Pandya didn’t begin his captaincy stint with Mumbai Indians with a win. Last week, he led the team for the first time as they faced Gujarat Titans, but they couldn’t secure a victory.
MI fell short by six runs in their chase of 169 against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. At one point, they were in a good position at 121 for 3 after 14 overs, needing 48 runs from 36 balls. However, despite their strong start, they couldn’t finish the game and ended up with 162 for 9 at the end of their innings.
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Virender Sehwag Made A Bold Claim
In the final over, MI needed 19 runs to win. Hardik Pandya, the MI captain, gave his team hope by hitting a six and a four off the first two balls bowled by Umesh Yadav. But unfortunately, he got out on the third ball, and MI could only manage two singles from the remaining deliveries, falling short of the target.
Besides MI’s defeat, there’s been a lot of talk about Hardik Pandya’s batting position. He used to bat at number four for Gujarat Titans in the previous two IPL seasons and performed admirably. Across those seasons, he accumulated over 800 runs. His most impressive season was in 2022 when he scored 487 runs, followed by 346 runs in 2023.
Surprisingly, in MI’s first game of IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya opted not to bat at number four. Instead, he came in to bat at number seven with only two overs remaining. He faced just four balls and was dismissed for 11 runs. As Hardik strives to leave his mark in his debut season as MI captain, former India opener Virender Sehwag has suggested that he should bat at number four.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Sehwag said: “I think he should bat at no.4. He has played at no.4 for two years at GT. If not 4, he should play at 5. When he will come to bat, there will be spinners in place. And spinners always have a fear for players who can hit sixes. Hardik has the ability to smash sixes with ease. He can win the match on his own if he comes to bat at that number,”
