Mumbai Indians suffered another defeat as Kolkata Knight Riders beat them by 24 runs on Friday to boost their play-off chances. It was MI's eighth defeat in 11 matches, leaving them with no chance of finishing in the top four.
Asked to bat first, the Knight Riders were bowled out for 169 but recovered well during the innings to reach 57/5 at one stage. But MI's batting order was once again ineffective, with no batsman except Suryakumar Yadav (56) scoring more than 30 in the run chase. Some of the batting choices were also questionable, with captain Hardik Pandya batting at No 7 and Tim David at No 8.
Sehwag remarked:
“KKR saved Russell, he faced only 2 balls. Tim David and Hardik Pandya also came out late. What results did you get from doing that? Many deliveries were left and they all departed. Perhaps you could have arrived earlier or finished the game sooner. I’m really wondering what happens to them in a chase. Pandya at seven and David at eight, are these players so awful that they will be dismissed if they bat early?”
The anchor commented that MI had promoted Nehal Wadhera and Naman Dhir because they could plan for the 2025 season. Sehwag argued that the team could not plan for the future if they were struggling to win matches in the present.