Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has blamed Hardik Pandya for ruining Mohit Sharma’s rhythm during IPL 2023 final between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium earlier this week.
With Chennai Super Kings needing 13 runs in the final over to chase down the revised total of 171 in 15 overs, Hardik Pandya gave the ball to Mohit. The right arm pacer started well by bowling a dot delivery to Shivam Dube before conceding only 3 singles on the next three deliveries.
With 10 runs needed on the last two balls and Mohit bowling really well, Gujarat Titans looked destined to win the clash. However, he ended up bowling a couple of loose deliveries and Ravindra Jadeja made no mistake in making the most of it.
The allrounder hit the 5th ball of the over for a six straight down the ground. The final ball was a low full toss on the leg and Jadeja steered it behind the stumps for a four to pull off an unlikely win for his side.
Sunil Gavaskar blames Hardik Pandya:
Sunil Gavaskar has pointed out the incident that happened just before Mohit was to bowl the fifth ball of the over. As he put Gujarat Titans in the driver seat by conceding only 3 runs in the first 4 balls, skipper Hardik Pandya decided to tell him something. Substitute Jayant Yadav was also sent to the field with drinks by coach Ashish Nehra to convey something to the bowler.
And while not many know what was told to Mohit by his skipper and the coach, one can say that it totally backfired. Right after that incident, he lost his rhythm and ended up conceding 10 runs in the final two balls of the over.
“He (Mohit) had bowled the first 3-4 delivery absolutely brilliantly. Then, for some strange reason, some water was sent to him. In the middle of the over, some drink was sent to him. Then Hardik Pandya came and spoke with him,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“You know when a bowler is in that rhythm and he is mentally also there, nobody should have said anything to him. Maybe from a distance, they could have just said ‘well bowled’.
“Going to them, talking to him – I do not think that was the right thing to do because suddenly, he was looking here and there. Till then, he was focused and I do not think what they did was the right idea. Because after that, he went for runs,” he added.
While Mohit would have loved to win the game for Gujarat, he did have a good campaign in IPL 2023. He finished the tournament with an impressive 27 wickets and was a key member of the team.
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