Όχι η Rochita Sharma. Ο Hardik Pandya αξίζει την αναγνώριση του Karn Sharm Mastrostrouke, λέει ο Sanjay Manderakar

Mumbai Indians (MI) haven’t had the best of starts to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. They have lost four of their first five matches and were placed ninth on the points table. But a victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) has given MI hope. They’ll believe they are still in the reckoning.

Impact sub masterstroke

But their win wasn’t easy. In fact, it was their impact substitute who broke the game open for them. Karn Sharma broke a 119-run stand between Karun Nair and Abhishek Porel to bring MI into the match. The leg spinner took two more wickets, picking KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs.

The move got lots of praise. They could have gone for Vignesh Puthur, who has done the trick for MI in the past. But chose to bring in Karn Sharma. Many hailed Rohit Sharma for the decision, who was talking with MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. And it was then that Karn came in.

Hardik Pandya or Rohit Sharma, who deserves praise?

However, Sanjay Manjrekar doesn’t agree with this assessment. The former Indian cricketer pointed out that everyone has been blaming Hardik for their four losses. And now they have completed a great victory, the credit for it must go to Hardik as well.

“There are many people who are there to give suggestions but it all depends on the person in the middle who has to take the decision. He (Hardik) listened to the advice (from Rohit) is the biggest thing. If you give Rohit credit here as well and not Hardik Pandya, it would be the wrong thing. If the suggestion had failed, you would’ve blamed Hardik,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.

Given what transpired last year with the MI captaincy change, Hardik taking Rohit’s advice shows that they have a good relationship. And now that the all-rounder has the reins in his hand, it’s up to him to whether he needs to listen to Rohit or not. He’s decided to keep himself open to all suggestions.

“It’s quite easy to give suggestions from outside. The entire credit for this (victory), should go to Hardik Pandya. Considering how emotional he has been (over MI’s recent results), it was an important win for him. It has been quite a difficult journey for him. Would be wrong if social media and others say that Mumbai Indians won because of Rohit Sharma’s suggestions. Hardik Pandya is the captain, and he is the one taking decisions, no matter who is giving suggestions,” Manjrekar added.