Former Indian cricketers Murali Kartik and Virender Sehwag raised serious questions over Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after Mumbai Indians (MI) failed to defend 243 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2026 clash on April 29 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Pandya’s decision to use Shardul Thakur as an Impact Player, yet not give him a single over, has become a major topic of discussion. Reflecting on this, Kartik said on Cricbuzz, “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.”
So far in the tournament, Shardul has picked up six wickets from five innings at an average of 31.66 and an economy rate of 13.57.
Sehwag, who was alongside Kartik on the show, also admitted the decision didn’t make sense. “If you’ve brought him on as an ‘Impact Player’, you should definitely have given him one over. He is a wicket-taking bowler; you should at least have given him a try. I’m surprised. You’ll have to ask Hardik why he didn’t give him the ball,” said the former India opener.
SRH comfortably chased the target inside 19 overs with contributions from Abhishek Sharma (45), Travis Head (76), Heinrich Klaasen (65*) and Salil Arora (30*).
The five-time IPL winners are currently struggling in the tournament, with only two wins from eight matches. They will next face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 2 in Chennai.
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