'A big worry on the larger picture': Pathan weighs on Pandya's lacklustre form

Former Indian allrounder Irfan Pathan expressed his concerns about Mumbai Indians MI skipper and Indian allrounder Hardik Pandyas form saying that the decline in his hitting ability is a big worry on a larger pictureMIs inconsistent run under Hardiks captaincy continued as they registered a ninewicket loss to Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday The allrounders disappointing run in IPL 2024 continued as he could score only 10 runs in 10 balls and conceded 21 runs in two overs that he bowledTaking to X formerly Twitter Pathan wrote Hardik Pandyas hitting ability is going down Thats a big worry on the larger picture At the Wankhede he is different but on pitches where there is little help is what is worrisome for himDealing with boos and trolling from the audience due to his controversial move back to the Blue and Gold franchise as a captain replacing the fivetime IPL winning skipper Rohit Sharma his performances have not helped him at all in winning the audiences heartsIn eight matches he has scored 151 runs at an average of 2157 and a strike rate of 14245 His best score is 39 Only seven sixes have come out of his bat this season He has been largely ineffective with the ball too taking just four wickets at an average of 4650 and a strike rate of 2550 with the best figures of 243Hardik Pandyarsquos hitting ability is going down Thatrsquos a big worry on a larger picture At the wankhede he is different but on pitches where there is little help is what is worrisome for himmdash Irfan Pathan IrfanPathan April 22 2024Since taking over the captaincy of Gujarat Titans who he guided to a title win in their debut season in 2022 and a runnersup spot in 2023 Hardik took more of an anchor approach as a batter His strike rate in two seasons with GT was around 131 and 136 respectively which marked a huge decline from his best years in MI In 2017 he struck at around 156 for MI then at 13333 in 2018 then 19143 in 2019 and 17898 in 2020Coming to the match Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first MI was 203 at one point Then it was Tilak who had a 32run partnership with Mohammed Nabi 23 in 17 balls with two fours and a six and a 99run stand with Nehal Wadhera 49 in 24 balls with three fours and a six It took MI to 1799 in their 20 oversAlso ReadWaistlevel conundrumSandeep Sharma 518 was the top bowler for Rajasthan and got a memorable fivewicket haul Trent Boult also took 232 in his four overs Avesh Khan got one wicket Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also got a wicket and became the first player to get to 200 IPL wicketsIn the runchase Jaiswal struck his second IPL century scoring 104 in 60 balls with nine fours and seven sixes Knocks from Jos Buttler 35 in 25 balls with six fours and skipper Sanju 38 in 28 balls with two fours and two sixes guided RR to a ninewicket winJaiswal took home the Player of the Match awardRR is at the top of the points table with seven wins and a loss giving them 14 points MI is in the seventh spot with three wins five losses and six pointsWith agency inputs