Mohammad Nabi Hardik Pandya
Mohammad Nabi Hardik Pandya. Image Credits: Twitter

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been criticized for his strange captaincy decisions in his short tenure as skipper of the five-time IPL-winning franchise. One such strange decision was his not giving a single over to Mohammad Nabi against the Punjab Kings in Mullanpur.

Mumbai Indians had to bat first after Punjab Kings captain Sam Curran won the toss. While Ishan Kishan got out early, Rohit Sharma (36) and Suryakumar Yadav stabilized the innings and attacked PBKS bowlers.

They added 81 runs for the second wicket before Rohit got out. Suryakumar Yadav scored 78 runs in 53 balls, including three sixes and seven fours. Tilak Varma scored 34* runs, while Tim David added 14 runs as MI reached 192/7 in 20 overs.

In retaliation, the Punjab Kings had a disastrous start to their innings. Gerald Coetzee dismissed Prabhsimran Singh for a golden duck in the first over. Then Jasprit Bumrah upended the PBKS top order by eliminating Rilee Russouw and Sam Curran.

Fan slams Hardik Pandya for not giving a single over to Mohammad Nabi on Instagram; Nabi shares the post in his Insta story

PBKS was immediately reduced to 77/6, but Shashank Singh (41 in 25 balls) and Ashutosh Sharma came together to attempt another rescue. Ashutosh was the standout of the PBKS innings, hitting 61 in 28 balls with seven sixes and two fours. However, he was removed with PBKS needing 25 runs.

During this time, Akash Madhwal, and Romario Shepherd were going for runs, but Hardik Pandya didn’t turn towards Mohammad Nabi for an over. Even Shreyas Gopal bowled only 2 overs, giving 26 runs for his one wicket.

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One Afghanistan team fan slammed Hardik Pandya on Instagram citing how good Mohammad Nabi has been for MI lately. Even against PBKS, he took two good catches and affected a run out as well.

Interestingly Mohammad Nabi shared the fan’s post on his Insta story, which read: “@mumbaiindians, some of your captain’s decision are very strange and surprise people!? Nabi didn’t bowl today!”