In New Delhi, former all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Monday questioned Hardik Pandya's leadership skills, citing his inability to adapt to match situations and failure to formulate a proper plan.
Hardik, who replaced Rohit Sharma as MI's captain this season, has received a lot of flak from fans and former players after the five-time champions' lackluster run so far.
“Hardik needs to handle MI really well. Pandya played a big role whenever MI lost,” Pathan told the Star Sports pressroom.
“Yesterday also Akash Madhwal did not bowl the last over, he should be given the responsibility, when Shreyas Gopal took the wicket of Rachin Ravindra, why didn't you give him another over?
“He bowled just one over… The pitch was a bit slow and you have to adapt quickly, unfortunately, Pandya hasn't been able to adapt so far.”
Hardik had an amazing run at Gujarat Titans in the last two years under coach Ashish Nehra, leading the team to two finals and winning the trophy in 2022.
Asked if GT coach Ashish Nehra's impact was showing, Pathan said: “… it was there, his impact is helping Shubman Gill as well but do you think the MI support staff is not helping him? They are trying to help, it's up to Hardik Pandya.”
“He's got to make sure he has a plan A, a plan B. He's got to know the situation. He's not new, he's been playing for years. If he doesn't use his own experience and isn't going to be. Be smart about it, he'll be found out and that's what's happening right now.
I will be disappointed if Dubey doesn't go to the World Cup
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Shivam Dubey has been in rolling form this season and Pathan said he will be disappointed if he is not selected for the T20 World Cup.
“Finally time will come for Shivam Dubey to put pressure on Pandya, Dubey's hitting ability, the way he kills the spinners, nobody in the Indian batting middle order comes close to him, he is better now,” he said.
“If he doesn't go to the World Cup, I will be very disappointed. We have lost someone like him, someone like Yuvraj Singh who can hit six sixes, who plays without fear of words. I have not seen anything like that.
“Yes, Hardik's hitter potential is low and that's why a lot of people are talking about him. Both of them can take the plane to the World Cup but I'm excited about Dubey and what he can bring to the table.”
“Gun picks left-arm pacer, wrist spinner for T20 World Cup”
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Talking about India's bowling line-up in the World Cup, Pathan said the selectors should include a gun left-arm pacer and a wrist spinner.
“I want the selectors to have an in-form bowling line-up, you have Bumrah, maybe Jadeja or Axar Patel as a left-arm spinner, a good wrist spinner, who will be a wicket-taker in the middle overs. Get an in-form left-armer, if Arshdeep Singh can bowl like he does but Mohsin Keep an eye on Khan as well.
There has been a lot of talk about Virat Kohli's low strike rate in this IPL but Pathan said that while selecting a batsman, one should not only focus on strike rate but also average.
“Kohli's strike rate in international T20s is slightly better than Chris Gayle's, close to 138. Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma's strike rates are 139, we are not talking about them.
“You have to average it out with strike-rate, you can't have a one-size-fits-all measure for all players.”
“We need to think about the law of consequence going forward.”
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Pathan feels that Indian cricket should think about the rule of consequence in the long run.
“This rule is not good for Indian cricket in the long run, you see Venkatesh Iyer, Shivam Dubey not bowling, a lot of all-rounders can't bowl. You want youngsters to be part of the game.
“I am really worried about the all-rounder, finally we have to think about this aspect. Yes, the impact rule is beneficial to the entertainment side of cricket but Indian cricket needs to think about it as far as all-rounders are concerned.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modification to the text.