Kris Srikkanth blasts Hardik Pandya, labels him ‘plastic captain’ after CSK hammering
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Former Team India selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth has slammed Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya for his poor leadership in IPL 2026. Under Pandya's captaincy, MI are at ninth place on the points table.
The five-time champions are now practically eliminated from playoff contention in this year's tournament. Srikkanth had specifically taken his dig at Pandya for his poor show in MI's loss to Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on May 2.
Hardik Pandya comes a cropper against CSK
Hardik Pandya's decision to bat first after winning the toss had backfired as MI's middle order was unable to build on the decent start given by their top order. Pandya himself was at the forefront of this crash as he made a painstaking 18 runs from 23 deliveries.
MI could only muster 159/7 in their 20 overs. CSK romped home to the target by 8 wickets remaining as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kartik Sharma made fifties. Hardik Pandya failed to strike with the ball as well.
He is a plastic captain- Kris Srikkanth
Talking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth criticised Hardik's inability to kick on in the middle overs.
"Look at the numbers — 18 runs off 23 balls. What is this? He is a plastic captain. Look at that partnership — what was the intent? What was Hardik Pandya trying to do? If you check the number of dot balls in the middle overs, it’s clear there was no proper calculation or game awareness. The run-rate dropped very drastically during that phase," he said.
"From around the 6th or 7th over, they started at about 9 runs per over, but then it went down — 7, 7, one over of 13, then 10, then 6. After that, 5, 4, 3, 7, 4 that’s where they lost it completely between overs 12 to 16. Even towards the end, it was just 7 runs and 4 runs while Hardik was still batting. Honestly, I couldn’t understand what they were trying to do. What was the plan?" he added.
Srikkanth also spoke about how Pandya had been found out by the opposition bowlers and how the MI captain presented a glaring weakness in his game. "They won't bowl in the slot again. They will lock him down. They knew if they bowl length, he will smash them. So, they won't bowl there," said Srikkanth.
Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians' poor form in IPL 2026
Not just Pandya, most of MI's other big stars have been struggling for form in IPL 2026. Big names like Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma have been performing poorly, and Rohit Sharma's absence due to injury has been extended.
Hardik's own number this season reads 146 runs from 8 matches at a strike rate of just 136 and an average of 20. His highest score has also been just 40 runs. With the ball, it has been worse. Pandya has taken just 4 wickets at a scarcely believable average of 61.5. His economy rate has also been almost 12 runs an over. MI will take on Lucknow Super Giants on May 4 in their next match.
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