Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was shown no mercy on Saturday after the team incurred their eighth loss in the ongoing IPL 2024 to have their campaign hanging by a thread. Hardik's captaincy was brutally criticised by cricket greats like Graeme Smith, Shane Watson and Irfan Pathan, who were rather left baffled that Mumbai failed to win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium after going 5 down for just 57 runs in 6.1 overs. However, amid the relentless criticism, the visuals of a shattered and dispirited Hardik from the MI dugout went viral on social media.

Nuwan Thushara's three-wicket burst in the powerplay saw Mumbai gain the upper edge in the do-or-die battle for the five-time champions, as they had half of KKR's batting lineup back in the hut early in the clash. And even though Jasprit Bumrah was nearly unplayable in the death overs where he picked up two wickets, KKR set a target of 170, courtesy of a patient knock of 70 from 52 from Venkatesh Iyer on the two-paced pitch, which included an 83-run stand alongside Manish Pandey.

In response, MI's top order collapsed, as it has been the story this season for them, before dew started to set in amid Suryakumar Yadav carving out a brilliant knock that kept the home team well on track for a likely win even until the start of the slog overs. But Andre Russell got better of the India batter before Mitchell Starc put on a stellar show with the old ball as MI were folded for just 145 runs.

Amid the lower-order collapse at the Wankhede, Hardik was seen completely disappointed as he covered his face at the sight of the dismissal of Tim David and Piyush Chawla. Later, with 26 required from the final nine balls with a wicket in hand, Hardik looked completely helpless and shattered.

Former India cricketer Pathan questioned the logic behind handing the ball to Naman Dhir when KKR were tottering at 57/5, rather than bringing back Bumrah into the attack.

"Mumbai Indians' story ends here. This team was so good on paper, but it wasn't managed. The questions that were raised on Hardik Pandya's captaincy were absolutely right. When you've restricted KKR to 57/5, you didn't have to give Naman Dhir three successive overs. You had to bring your main bowlers, and you gave your sixth bowler three overs. Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer posted a strong partnership. You could've bowled them out on 150 instead you let them score 170," Irfan said in a viral video.

Watson and Smith, speaking on Jio Cinema, too pointed out the exact same reason behind MI's loss that almost confirmed their exit from the IPL 2024 tournament.

“KKR had no right to win that game tonight after the position they were in five wickets down. It just shows the fight that they have and also just some of the things that happened. Some of the decisions that were made whether that was bowling changes or batting lineup deployment, some of those decisions were very baffling just to really give KKR the upper hand in a game that was just on a knife’s edge at certain times,” said Watson.

The former South Africa captain, however, did not target Hardik particularly, but rather reckoned that the entire Mumbai unit has looked confused throughout the season, with their dressing room in turmoil over what had happened at the start of the season due to captaincy change.

"Hardik has really struggled. He's looked a man under pressure that obviously has created a little bit of turmoil in the environment and who knows how it's affected people. But even their batting lineup, it just looked like they were confused. You know, I think Tilak Varma, Wadhera floating in the middle order. Naman Dhir batting at three tonight they are moving all over the place. They should have had, Tilak at 3, SKY at 4 and Hardik at 5 through the season, David at 6 and then figure out your bowling unit," Smith said.

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