Sunil Gavaskar calls out Hardik Pandya for not backing himself over Deepak Chahar vs GT: ‘Game could have changed…’

Sunil Gavaskar was not impressed with Hardik Pandya's decision to choose Deepak Chahar over himself to bowl the final over against Gujarat Titans in the rain-affected match. Chahar had a task to defend 15 runs off the last over with Rahul Tewatia and Gerald Coetezee in the middle, but he failed to restrict them as GT won the last-ball thriller. The loss put Mumbai Indians in a tricky position in the playoffs race as they are currently placed at the fourth spot with 14 points.

Gavaskar criticised Hardik for not backing himself for the crucial over as he has delivered in such situations in the past on big stages, including the T20 World Cup final last year against South Africa.

"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 said while speaking on JioStar.

Hardik bowled just one over on Tuesday against his former franchise, which turned out to be an expensive one in which he struggled to get his line and length right and gave away 18 runs.

“Deepak Chahar not used to bowling in the final overs”

Gavaskar suggested that Chahar is not used to bowl in the last five overs as MI have mostly used him in the powerplay overs to exploit swing from the new ball.

"So with that, with one over left, 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... uh... but, I mean, the game could have changed," Gavaskar observed.

The batting great also feels that the slow-over rate which resulted in one fielding penalty in last over also cost them big in the clash and they need to sit down and get their plans right for remaining matches.

"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," he added.