Hardik Pandya Criticized for Relying on ‘Net Bowler’ Over Himself: ‘Should Have Taken Charge’

6 months ago | 5 Views

After the five-time champions' defeat in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya's strategies are being examined. The Mumbai Indians lost 203, bringing their tournament run to an end after their victory over the Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator brought them to a must-win match.

Hardik's decision to rely on Reece Topley, the English pacer who was playing his first game of the IPL 2025 season, rather than bowling his complete quota of four overs, did not sit well with Tom Moody, the former head coach of the SunRisers Hyderabad.

Hardik took Josh Inglis's wicket after throwing only two overs and giving up 19 runs. If Trent Boult hadn't missed Nehal Wadhera's catch, the pacer would have taken another wicket. But after his second over, Hardik chose not to bowl himself.

In contrast, Reece Topley performed poorly at work, allowing 40 runs in three overs. The primary cause of Punjab Kings' victory was that Jasprit Bumrah also had a bad day and was unable to get any wickets.

"Hardik ought to have gotten a two-for." That second, when Trent Boult would likely have made that grab 99 out of 100 times, he whiffed it. Not even a strong glove over it. He ought to have bowled. He was doing what was necessary on that surface, Moody told ESPNcricinfo.

"And that was an opportunity that was missed. In my opinion, he should have had a two-for, and he should have returned and taken the bull by the horns, saying, "Right, okay, I'm going to bowl in here," he continued.

‘Topley resembled a bowler who was physically prepared for nets’

In his tirade against Topley, Moody didn't hold back, calling the left-armer a bowler "conditioned for nets." But, given that the England pacer was making his IPL 2025 season debut, he also said that it would be unfair to assign blame.

"Topley appeared to be a bowler who had been trained for nets but was far from prepared for the real, high-pressure world of competitive cricket," Moody stated.

He was missing that. It's really challenging to transition from bowling well in the nets, having rhythm, and feeling like you're on top of your game to a high-pressure game scenario, he said.

As the New Zealand spinner only threw two overs and allowed 15 runs, Mitchell Santner was not used by Hardik Pandya for his whole quota. Because of Shreyas Iyer's presence in the middle, the left-armer wasn't called upon for more overs, according to Moody.

In the end, Shreyas Iyer led the Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final, where they will face RCB on Tuesday, with an unbroken 87 off 41 balls.

"Hardik was looking at it because we knew that he had a couple of match-ups against Nehal and he didn't want to get the game away from him," Moody stated.

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