Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith hit out at five-time former champions Mumbai Indians after their humiliating defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. The defeat also marked the end of KKR’s 12-year wait for a home win over MI, when they trailed 1-9 in the encounter.
Smith slammed the Hardik Pandya-led side, calling MI a “chaotic force”. He pointed to the turmoil early in MI’s campaign, when Hardik took over captaincy duties in place of Rohit Sharma, as one of the reasons for their poor performance. Smith also suggested Tilak Varma at No. 3, followed by Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.
“Hardik is really struggling. He looks like a guy who is under pressure and it obviously creates a bit of chaos in the environment and who knows how that affects people. But even their batting line-up, it looks like they are Very confused. You know, I think Tilak Varma, Wadhera batting at No. 3 tonight, they should move throughout the season, Tilak at No. 3, Sky at number four, Hardik at number five, David at number six and then figure out your bowling unit,” said Graeme Smith. Gio Cinema After the game.
“They were a very confused team this year. Very disappointing for a big team in the IPL this year. And, you know, a lot of people are going to be very, very pained tonight – the MI fan base and the MI camp,” he further added.
The South Africa legend also wondered if MI’s leadership group would have to finalize next year’s squad. He also believes the five-time former champions will have to swallow a bitter pill as a number of players will be released next year.
“With three games next year to go to a bigger auction, do they need to figure out their squad? They need to see some players say okay, we’re going to release this player. You know guys like Dewald Brevis Brevis, he hasn’t really been able to get consistent opportunities or take advantage of his opportunities over the years, so you know, the leadership group may need to make some decisions for next year,” Smith concluded.
MI is currently ninth in the standings, with just three wins from 11 games and little hope of making the playoffs.