Hardik Pandya’s captaincy came under question once again as Mumbai Indians (MI) failed to defend a score of 243 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2026 clash on Wednesday.
SRH chased down the daunting target of 244 in just 18.4 overs, with even MI pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah having an off day. However, what also left many experts and fans baffled was MI’s decision to bring on Shardul Thakur as an ‘Impact Player’, but not give him even a single over.
Former India cricketers Murali Kartik and Virender Sehwag were also unable to find answers on why Shardul wasn’t given the ball, with Sehwag even cracking a hilarious joke at Kartik’s perplexion.
“Even I didn’t understand. Maybe they brought him (Shardul) in as an option, but perhaps they forgot about it or something else. I actually did not understand. Search me. I have the same expression as you,” Kartik said on the matter, speaking on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag, who was present alongside Kartik, quipped in with a humorous response.
“Give me the Red Bull can. I’ll search when I spray it on him (Kartik),” Sehwag said to the host.
However, as it turned out, even Sehwag did not have an explanation as to why Hardik had not handed the ball to Shardul.
“If you’ve brought him on as an ‘Impact Player’, you should have definitely given him one over. He is a wicket-taking bowler, you should’ve at least given him a try. I’m surprised. You’ll have to ask Hardik why he didn’t give him the ball,” Sehwag added.
Travis Head (76 off 30), Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24), Heinrich Klaasen (65* off 30) and Salil Arora (30* off 10) played swashbuckling knocks to ensure that SRH pulled off the target without much stress.
The result has left MI ninth in the IPL 2026 points table, with just two wins from eight games.