Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim believes that Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya needs to bring a change about his batting and that teams are following a template when bowling to him.
Pandya scored 31 from 15 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday but Karim felt that the Indian all-rounder could do more and that bowlers were figuring out ways to limit him.
“The opposition bowlers have worked out a plan for him. Very few deliveries are bowled in the slot for him. The pressure of leading MI, the pressure of the team not doing well, all that is weighing heavily on him. If you look at the other [top] batters, all of them have reinvented their game. They have become multi-dimensional. They have worked hard on their game. Hardik needs to do that,” said Karim to ESPNCricinfo.
While Karim said that Pandya’s batting needed adjustments to be made, he believed that he remained one of Mumbai’s better bowlers. Karim said that while Pandya stuck to a plan in an over, he had the tendency to put in 3-4 good balls but undo his work with the remaining balls in the over.
“With the ball, I think it’s bowling at the right times. He has the tendency to take the new ball and what I have noticed is that his accuracy has been a little bit off. He’s bowling 3-4 good balls in an over and then messing up with those other two balls. One good ball gets nicked and that over is still going for 14. I would like him to take a little more ownership. He can bowl at the back end of the powerplay.”
Pandya and Mumbai have been struggling in this season of the IPL. While a top, top team on paper, Mumbai have struggled this season to win games. Even though they put up a score of 240 plus at the Wankhede on Wednesday, their bowling unit could not contain Hyderabad’s batting armada and conceded a loss that shouldn’t have been in Mumbai.
