Former Indian Test opener Wasim Jaffer questioned Hardik Pandya’s tactics of bowling Krish Bhagat in the final over of the innings against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday. Pandya had his overs left in the bank but decided to back the youngster against a well-settled Sanju Samson.
The Punjab seamer was taken for 16 runs in the final over by the CSK opener as the visitors posted a par score of 207 runs on the board. Bhagat returned with figures of 0-31 in the two overs he bowled whereas Pandya bagged 0-38 in his two overs.
Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube Channel, “I was a bit surprised with the tactics, Hardik Pandya did not bowl in the death overs. Instead, Krish Bhagat bowled the 16th over, his first, and then even the 20th over. That did not quite make sense to me tactically. Although Hardik had conceded 38 runs in his two overs, still giving the final over to someone so inexperienced was puzzling.”
Jaffer questioned MI’s display with the bat and hailed CSK’s left-arm orthodox spinner Akeal Hosein, who returned with impressive figures of 4-17 in his quota of four overs.
“Then in batting, it was again a similar story, a flop show from Mumbai Indians. The way they had beaten Gujarat Titans by 100 runs earlier, and then coming into the next match and losing by 100 runs themselves. A big contest like Chennai vs Mumbai ended up being one-sided. But credit has to go to Chennai Super Kings, especially Akeal Hosein. We were saying he should always play. He bowls so well in the powerplay. An outstanding win, especially beating Mumbai like this at their home ground.”
The former flamboyant batter praised Sanju Samson, who scored a stunning knock of 101 runs off just 54 balls with the help of 10 fours and six maximums.
“As for the first innings, it was set up by Sanju Samson. What an incredible knock. We have talked about this before, how well he paces his innings. It almost looks effortless, the way he scores a century in T20 cricket. This was his second hundred of the season. This was his fifth IPL hundred, just amazing batting. If I remember correctly, till the 18th over he had faced only around 43-45 balls. He was not getting much strike and was stuck around 80. But in the last two overs, he really accelerated and took charge.”
Mumbai Indians will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Wednesday.
