Mumbai: Following Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) 24-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium, former cricketer Irfan Pathan said the hosts' "story is finished" in the ongoing season of the T20 tournament.
Pathan shared a video on his official Instagram account where he said the Mumbai-based franchise had a good side on paper but was not managed well. He added questions on Hardik Pandya's captaincy is valid.
"Mumbai Indians' story is finished in the IPL 2024. They were a very good team on paper but they have not been managed well. Questions on Hardik Pandya's captaincy are absolutely valid. Today when KKR were 57/5, you bowled 3 bowlers of Naman Dhir. You bowled your 6th bowler, let KKR form a crucial partnership between Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer. The 83-run partnership took KKR to 170 when they should have only got to 150 and that turned out to be the point of difference," Pathan said.
He further added the players need to accept their captain. The 39-year-old opined that it has not happened for MI in IPL 2024.
"Cricket is a game where captaincy and management is crucial and MI at the moment are not playing as a team and that's the biggest talking point of the season for MI. It is important for the players to accept their captain and I don't think it has happened for MI this season," he added.
Even though Pandya picked up two wickets and gave 44 runs while bowling in the first inning. With the bat, the MI skipper was sloppy with his performance as he scored just one run after playing three balls.
Summarizing the match, put to bat first, a solid partnership stand of 83 runs between Venkatesh Iyer (70 off 52) and Manish Pandey (42 off 31) guided KKR to 169. For MI, Jasprit Bumrah returned with a double-wicket over before ending with a spell of 3 for 18 in 3.5 overs.
In reply, MI were bundled out for 145. Starc made a terrific comeback in the tournament with a figure of 4-33 in just 3.5 spells, handing KKR a 24-run victory. Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine both finished with identical figures of 2/22, including some big wickets in the first half of the chase which put KKR on top in the match.
Following the win, KKR stand in second place on IPL 2024 standings with 14 points. Meanwhile, MI hold the ninth place with 6 points to their name.
