Former India captain and renowned commentator Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya for not bowling the final over in the rain-curtailed IPL 2025 match against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday. Playing at the Wankhede Stadium, GT were chasing 156 but due to the several rain breaks, they needed 15 runs in the 19th over to win the match. MI sent pacer Deepak Chahar but he also failed to defend the remaining runs as GT clinched the victory and climbed to the top of the points table.
Gavaskar stated that Hardik's track record of bowling the final overs has been great and the decision of giving the ball to Deepak Chahar proved to be costly for the five-time champions.
"As I explained earlier, because of the fact that he had bowled those final overs - and bowled them very well - he bowled over against Bangladesh where, I mean, we got 3 wickets, Bangladesh had to score 4 or 5, and India managed to win that game by 1. And then in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup last year in the West Indies, in Barbados, he bowled that final over and India win," Gavaskar said while speaking on JioStar.
"So with that, with one over left, I would have thought that - because, let's face it, also, you know, in commentary we heard that Deepak Chahar really hasn't bowled in the final 5 overs. This is probably, you know, one of those rare occasions, so he, you know, he's not used to bowling in the final overs. So I think that is where the... uh... but, I mean, the game could have changed," he added.
Hardik was also penalised for maintaining a slow-over rate in the game. Gavaskar stated that such things can cost them their spot in the playoffs.
"I think the fact that they took their time with the over - so they had to penalise one field. So these things are things that can come in and, you know, cost you a place in the playoffs. And that is the reason why I think Mumbai Indians really have to sit down and talk about that," said Gavaskar.