IPL 2025: Sunil Gavaskar questions Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after loss against Gujarat Titans

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar slammed Hardik Pandya’s leadership after Mumbai Indians suffered a three-wicket loss (DLS method) against Gujarat Titans in the ongoing IPL 2025 on Tuesday. Gavaskar questioned Pandya for not backing himself and giving the final over of the innings to Deepak Chahar when 15 runs were required.

Chahar could not nail his yorkers and Rahul Tewatia was able to get a boundary on the first ball. Gerald Coetzee also smashed a six on the third ball of the over and Chahar also overstepped on the next ball.

On the other hand, Hardik Pandya bowled a solitary over, in which he conceded 18 runs, including three wides and two no balls.

Sunil Gavaskar said on JioStar, “I think the fact that they took their time with the over – so they had to penalise one field. So these things are things that can come in and, you know, cost you a place in the playoffs. And that is the reason why I think Mumbai Indians really have to sit down and talk about that.”

Gavaskar recalled the T20 World Cup match against Bangladesh when Hardik Pandya defended two runs off the final three balls. Pandya also bowled the last over of the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa and successfully defended 15 runs.

“As I explained earlier, because of the fact that he had bowled those final overs – and bowled them very well – he bowled over against Bangladesh where, I mean, we got 3 wickets, Bangladesh had to score 4 or 5, and India managed to win that game by 1. And then in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup last year in the West Indies, in Barbados, he bowled that final over and India win.”

Gavaskar highlighted that Deepak Chahar is not a specialist in the death overs and thus questioned Pandya’s decision.

“I would have thought that – because, let’s face it, also, you know, in commentary we heard that Deepak Chahar really hasn’t bowled in the final 5 overs. This is probably, you know, one of those rare occasions, so he, you know, he’s not used to bowling in the final overs. So I think that is where the game could have changed.”

Mumbai Indians will next take on Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Sunday.