Mitchell McClenaghan takes a cryptic dig at Hardik Pandya after Mumbai Indians finish last in IPL 2024

Former Mumbai Indians seamer Mitchell McClenaghan took a cryptic dig at current MI captain Hardik Pandya by not mentioning his post-match speech. 

Mitchell McClenaghan did so after the Lucknow Super Giants picked up an 18-run victory over Mumbai at the iconic Wankhede stadium. Hardik Pandya's side went through one of their toughest seasons in IPL history as they are certain to finish 10th in the IPL 2024 points table. 

How did Mitchell McClenaghan make a cryptic dig at Hardik Pandya? 

Mitchell McClenaghan, who is a part of ESPNcricinfo's expert analyst team for IPL 2024, has bashed Hardik Pandya a couple of times this season. After last night's result at the Wankhede, McClenaghan wasn't too happy with how MI played in their 14th and last league game, since he was a part of the franchise during his playing days. 

I love watching post match interviews

Take away tonight: @klrahul genuine, down to earth, team guy. Humble & intelligent - 🙏 for his success! @nicholas_47 superstar. Understands the opportunity and his grace to the game is 💯- 2 huge blocks to the LSG foundation.

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) May 17, 2024

After the post-match presentation concluded in Mumbai, McClenaghan took to X and expressed his fondness to see the post-match interviews of players. It is a ritual that the losing captain will speak to the commentators first and then the winning captain along with the Man of the match speak to the presenter. 

In his tweet, Mitchell McClenaghan wrote that he loves hearing the thoughts of the players after a match and he also mentioned the winning captain and MOTM. The former Kiwi pacer hailed KL Rahul, the winning captain, and Nicholas Pooran who was the man of the match but McClenaghan didn't bother about mentioning MI captain Hardik Pandya. 

From his post-match interview takeaway, McClenaghan had special praise for Rahul and Pooran. However, it is unknown whether he forgot that Hardik Pandya had also spoken after the match or he didn't like what the all-rounder had to say after the loss. 

McClenaghan wrote that KL Rahul seemed genuine, down to earth, a team guy, humble and intelligent for his success. Pooran wrote that the West Indies batter is a superstar and he is one of the pillars of the foundation of the LSG team. 

"I love watching post-match interviews Take away tonight: @klrahul genuine, down to earth, team guy. Humble & intelligent - 🙏 for his success! @nicholas_47 superstar. Understands the opportunity and his grace to the game is 💯- 2 huge blocks to the LSG foundation." - Mitchell McClenaghan wrote on X. 

But when it came to Hardik Pandya's post-match speech, McClenaghan didn't find anything intriguing. 

What did Hardik Pandya say after the loss? 

Hardik Pandya was the first to express his thoughts on the 17-run loss in Wankhede. The all-rounder claimed that his side didn't play good cricket and that was the main reason why they had a poor IPL 2024 season. Pandya had also said that it is difficult for him to point out what exactly went wrong for MI but he did confirm that the entire season went wrong for MI. 

"Quite difficult. Did not play good quality cricket, eventually costed us the whole season. It's a professional world. Have to always come out and put our best foot forward. But yes, as a group we could not play quality cricket or smart cricket. Too early to point out what went wrong." - Pandya said after the match.