Sanjay Manjrekar shares weakness of Hardik Pandya exploited by other teams in IPL 2021

India's former cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has outlined the weakness of Mumbai Indians' star all-rounder Hardik Pandya that has been exploited by the other teams in the IPL 2021. In the pre-match discussion at the ESPNcricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar also slammed the idea of Mumbai Indians' skipper Rohit Sharma to send Krunal Pandya at number 4 in place of Hardik Pandya. 

Responding to the question that should Mumbai Indians send Hardik Pandya up the order as Ishan Kishan has been dropped from the squad, Manjrekar shared his analysis on the vulnerability of Hardik Pandya that has been exploited by the other teams in IPL  2021. He said, "In the last game in Delhi, I thought Hardik Pandya could be set free from the prison of Chennai, he could have unleashed but Krunal Pandya walked in instead of Hardik. Hardik Pandya was supposed to go at that number, it did not make any sense as Quinton de Kock was already there, so, he should have batted at number 4. He should bat at number 4 today (against CSK)."

"But when you look at Hardik Pandya's IPL this season, clearly the oppositions have done on pitches that allowed them to do to take the pace off. He got out to Arshdeep Singh (PBKS) on a slower ball, he got to Amit Mishra (DC), he got out to Khaleel Ahmed's slower ball, Prasidh Krishan who bowls in the 140s dismissed Hardik Pandya on the slower ball, and Harshal Patel who generally bowls slower deliveries. These are the guys who the better of Hardik Pandya. So, the opposition clearly just looking to take the pace off against Hardik Pandya," added Sanjay Manjrekar.

Hardik Pandya has not been able to perform up to his caliber and the star all-rounder has only scored 36 runs in his last 5 innings in the Indian Premier League. However, Hardik will be looking to leave his mark on Saturday when the defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on the mighty Chennai Super Kings in Delhi. 

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

Riding on the course of back-to-back 5 victories, Chennai Super Kings will take on the defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Mumbai Indians will be looking to keep the winning momentum going as they emerged victorious in the last encounter in Delhi against Rajasthan Royals. While Rohit has an average of 35.83, showing that he has given the team a good start in the games gone by, Quinton de Kock found his mojo in the last game against RR. He scored 70* and effortlessly took the team across the winning line.

The two teams have faced each other 30 times in IPL, out of which MI has been on the winning side 18 times. Rohit Sharma has scored the most runs for MI against CSK, 658 runs in 28 games. Suresh Raina, who has played all of these 30 encounters, has the most for CSK - 722 runs.

(Image Credits: PTI)