Hardik Pandya struggled for rhythm against CSK (Courtesy: PTI)

Hardik Pandya is a plastic captain: Ex-selector slams MI skipper's intent in CSK loss

Kris Srikkanth tore into Hardik Pandya after Mumbai Indians' outing against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. The criticism centred on Pandya's 18 off 23 balls and CSK's method of tying him down through the middle overs.

03 May 2026, 07:43 by Alan Jose John · India Today

In Short

Pandya came in at No. 6 after Tilak Varma's dismissal at Chepauk
He scored 18 off 23, hitting two boundaries and playing 10 dots
Mumbai Indians slipped from 109 for four to 159 for seven

Former India selector Kris Srikkanth slammed Hardik Pandya, calling him a plastic captain and questioned his intent with the bat during the clash against CSK at the Chepauk on Saturday, May 3. Hardik came in to bat at No.6 for MI when they had just lost Tilak Varma and had the well-set Naman Dhir in the middle.

CSK vs MI: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD

But the MI skipper struggled to find any rhythm during his innings, scoring 18 off 23 balls as the visitors went from 109 for four in 12.5 overs to finish the innings at 159 for seven. Hardik was dismissed in the final over and hit just two boundaries during the innings. CSK ended up winning the match by 8 wickets.

Hardik played a total of 10 dot balls during his innings, which left Srikkanth shocked. The former selector, while speaking on his YouTube channel, questioned what Hardik was trying to do at that point in the innings as MI's scoring rate continued to fall.

"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," said Srikkanth.

"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."

Hardik's strike-rate of 136.45 this season has been a concern, as MI have lacked firepower in the middle. Even then, Srikkanth wondered what the MI skipper's plan was to counter CSK's choke in the death overs.

"Honestly, I couldn’t understand what they were trying to do. What was the plan?"

CSK EXPOSED HARDIK'S WEAKNESS

One thing that CSK did well was to ensure that they didn't give any freebies to Hardik and targeted his body, especially Jamie Overton.

Srikkanth said that the teams now know the trick to lock down Hardik and they will constantly target his body.

"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.

MI will take on LSG in their next game on May 4 at Wankhede.

- Ends