Aakash Chopra, the former Indian batter, opined that despite having several experienced bowlers in the pack, Mumbai Indians made no sense by handing over the ball to Raj Angad Bawa in that final over.
The Mumbai Indians have been eliminated from IPL 2026, and they became the second team after the Lucknow Super Giants to be officially knocked out of the competition after their defeat to the defending champions, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
The Hardik Pandya-led side is on the route to their second group-stage finish in three seasons, and this time around as well, they are most likely to finish in the bottom half of the points table. MI management has been questioned over their mindless decisions in the last game against RCB.
Aakash Chopra left baffled with MI’s decision to hand over the final over to Raj Angad Bawa
The Mumbai Indians suffered a heartbreaking defeat in Raipur, and they were knocked out of the race to the playoffs. Handing over the final over to Raj Angad Bawa, the Indian youngster who is not even a regular bowler for his domestic side has raised many eyebrows.
Aakash Chopra, the former Indian batter turned analyst, questioned the mindless act from the skipper Suryakumar Yadav and the MI management. He pointed out that despite having experienced and full-time bowlers in their pack, they used Bawa to deliver the final and made a mess of the match, which was almost in their pockets.
“How did you do this, Mumbai? Ghazanfar had one over left, but you went with Raj Angad Bawa. The youngster who doesn’t even bowl regularly in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, you entrusted the 20th over to him,” said the former Indian batter.
Aakash Chopra frustrated over lack of clarity in the MI camp over the Impact player rule
Aakash Chopra also questioned why, despite having made an impact sub in the form of Raghu Sharma, the MI team did not make him bowl a single over. He also shed light on the fact that this was not the first time MI did this in this season.
“You also made an impact substitute. Since the Impact Player rule has come, it has happened twice in IPL history that you took an Impact sub, but you didn’t give him the ball or the bat. It happened with Shardul Thakur. It happened with Raghu Sharma,” Aakash Chopra said in a video on X.
After having picked out Raghu Sharma, he added that he understands why spinners could not be handed the ball under those circumstances; however, he was clueless as to why MI did not have the likes of Ashwani Kumar, Shardul Thakur, or Krish Bhagat in their list of impact players.
“Sharma wasn’t brought into the bowl because the wicket wasn’t helping the spinners. If you couldn’t bowl Ghazanfar, then I understand why you didn’t bowl Raghu. But here lies the big question.
“You had Shardul Thakur in the Impact players’ list. You had Ashwani Kumar, Krish Bhagat and Mohammad Izhar but you didn’t even keep any of them in the Impact Player list. The player who was available, you didn’t bring him in. the player you brought in, you didn’t give the ball to him. Questions should be asked,” he added.
In the 2010s, Mumbai used to win the IPL every alternate year – Aakash Chopra
Akash Chopra also looked disheartened by Mumbai’s recent performances in the last few editions of the IPL.
He claimed that despite some solid performances in the past, the team has lost form in recent years and has often ended at the bottom of that points table, after being the winners of alternate editions.
“In the 2010s, Mumbai used to win the IPL every alternate year. 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and then in 2020. But when you came into the 2020s, Mumbai became the team who gets eliminated first in every alternate year.”
“They didn’t get eliminated first in 2025 but were knocked out in 2024 and now, this year, they have been eliminated alongside LSG. Their season is over,” Aakash Chopra said.
“It’s a team that has the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, who hasn’t scored runs, Tilak Varma, who has played just 2 good knocks. The team has Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Trent Boult, Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Ghazanfar, Naman Dhir. Still, they are the first ones to be eliminated. The time of introspection has come,” he added.
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