Misery for Hardik Pandya! His return to the Mumbai Indians (MI) has started on a bad note. The 5-time champions, who are the joint most-crowned franchise, are officially out of the IPL 2024 season. What’s worse is that MI is the first team to be knocked out of the 17th edition.
SRH destroys MI’s 6th IPL title hopes
Their poor form isn’t the only reason why they were knocked out after the 57th match, but rather Sunrisers Hyderabad’s incredible thrashing of the Lucknow Super Giants on May 8. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma not only destroyed KL Rahul and co. but also Mumbai Indians hopes.
With just two games left, MI could earn themselves six wins (12 points) at best. As of now, six teams already have the same number of wins and points and will likely win more as well. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, and Gujarat Titans also have the same number of wins (4) and points (8) as Hardik Pandya’s MI, and that too in a lesser number of matches (12 to 11).
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IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya to blame for the MI’s early exit?
Although Hardik hasn’t been great with either bat or ball, his captaincy has been questionable as well. From not giving Jasprit Bumrah the new ball to sending Piyush Chawla ahead of Tim David, it’s been more miss than hit for him. But not all can be pinned on him.
Most of their batters have high strike rates but poor averages, including Pandya, who’s scored just 198 runs at 19.8. But their bowling has been truly woeful, barring Bumrah’s incredible display.
The unorthodox pacer has 18 wickets (purple cap holder), with Hardik being their highest-best pacer (11 wickets). As for spinners, Piyush Chawla, Shreyas Gopal, and Mohammad Nabi have taken a combined 13 wickets.
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