Hardik Pandya has really struggled, he has looked like man under pressure: Graeme Smith

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) picked up their seventh win of the IPL 2024 by defeating the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 24 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday. Batting first, Kolkata were bowled out for 169 runs but held off Mumbai by bundling them out for 145 runs to take sole control of the No. 2 spot in the standings. JioCinema IPL experts Graeme Smith and Shane Watson praised Suryakumar Yadav (56 runs) but were critical of the larger issues the Mumbai Indians have faced this season, on Match Centre Live.

Shane Watson spoke on Mumbai Indians' leadership issues - "To keep bowling Naman Dhir when it was so critical (KKR were at 57-5), it was a big mistake from the leadership of the Mumbai Indians, whether it was Hardik Pandya making the decisions or information coming from the sideline. Bumrah had bowled only one over at that stage, so (they needed to) get him in the game again to try and break the partnership of Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, but they didn't. They just let them cruise and build momentum in the partnership. Before you know it, they hadn't played a shot in anger, and that built the partnership to a point where it was too late when he came in. There were a lot of baffling decisions from the Mumbai Indians' leadership, which is going to be hard to explain.”

Graeme Smith spoke on Mumbai Indians' struggles - “Hardik has really struggled, he's looked like a man under pressure. That's created a little turmoil in the air, who knows how that's affected the people. But even the batting lineup, they look like they're confused. Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir were fighting in the middle order, Dhir was batting at three, and Hardik moving all over the place. They should have had Tilak at 3, Sky at 4, and Hardik batting at 5 throughout the season, with David at 6. Then, figure out your bowling units. All over and all around, they've been a very confused team this season and it's been hugely disappointing from one of the mega franchises of the IPL. A lot of people in the MI fanbase and camp will be very sore tonight."

Smith spoke on Suryakumar Yadav - “With Sky at the crease, you always believe you have a chance. He was head and shoulders above every other batter in the MI lineup, nobody looked at all comfortable with the conditions, the pressure, or with their games. Sky came right tonight. Excellent stroke play, the usual hitting the ball in awkward areas. He played spin well, he played seam well, front-end or back-foot. While he was there, the whole fanbase of MI thought they had a chance