IND Vs IRE: Hardik Pandya's Bowling Changes Looked A Bit Confused: Abhinav Mukund Slams India Captain After Series Loss To West Indies

Abhinav Mukund, the 33-year-old Indian batsman lambasted Hardik Pandya for his bowling choices in the fifth T20I match against West Indies on Sunday (August 13). Mukund said that the Men in Blues skipper looked confused while changing bowlers.

Hardik Pandya-led India demonstrated poor performance in the series decider match and lost the match by eight wickets. In the first inning, the Men in Blues went to bat first and gave a target of 166 runs after Suryakumar Yadav played a 61-run knock from 45 runs.

In the second inning, the bowling attack failed to early wickets which helped the Caribbeans to chase the target by the 18th over.

I think the rain played a part: Abhinav Mukund on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy

While speaking to Jio Cinema during the second inning, Abhinav Mukund questioned the bowling changes made by Hardik Pandya and said that maybe it was because of the rain which played a big part.

The 33-year-old also added that he would have used Axar Patel with Arshdeep Singh at the start.

“Hardik Pandya’s bowling changes looked a bit confused. And I say confused because I think the rain played a part in choosing who was going to bowl in the powerplay. I would have started with Axar Patel which was the winning formula in the last match. Axar Patel should have started the bowling with the new ball with Arshdeep Singh,” Abhinav Mukund said.

Mukund believes that the Men in Blues were thinking about cutting off five overs of play after the rain played a role in the inning break.

“Personally, I would not have changed things too much from the 4th T20I. I think India were worried about the bad weather cutting 5 overs of play,” Mukund added.

After the five-match T20I series defeat against the Caribbeans, India will focus now on the upcoming three-match 20-over series against Ireland.

Jasprit Bumrah, who was out of the squad for a long time will make his return in the first eleven and will lead the Men in Blues in the absence of Hardik Pandya.

The three matches against Ireland will be crucial for the Indian Cricket Team since they will start reviewing players for the T20 World Cup which will be held in 2024.