'Very average captaincy': Ashwin takes aim at Hardik Pandya after MI defeat to RCB
Ravichandran Ashwin criticized Hardik Pandya's captaincy after Mumbai Indians' loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Ashwin highlighted the tactical error of introducing spinner Mayank Markande early against Rajat Patidar, who exploited the matchup for a quickfire 53. This decision allowed Patidar to dominate spin, shifting momentum and ultimately contributing to MI's 18-run defeat.
Ravichandran Ashwin, delivered a detailed tactical breakdown of Mumbai Indians’ 18-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2026, while also questioning Hardik Pandya’s captaincy decisions during key phases of the chase. A major talking point in Ashwin’s analysis was MI’s decision to introduce spinner Mayank Markande early against Rajat Patidar, a move he felt directly played into the RCB skipper’s strengths. Patidar, who went on to score a crucial 53 off just 20 balls, was particularly dominant against spin, shifting momentum during a decisive middle-over burst.
Ashwin also revisited Patidar’s past success against Markande in an earlier SRH vs RCB clash in 2024 to underline his point about the matchup. He said, “This is not today’s scorecard, this is the SRH vs RCB 2024 match where Rajat announced that he is a spin hitter. He hit Mayank Markande all over the ground.
” said on his YouTube channel, while referring to a previous IPL 2024 clash to highlight Rajat Patidar’s dominance against spin. He further added, “What is common here is that in that game also Rajat smashed Markande for sixes, and in this game too he did the same. The point is Rajat Patidar against spin is a monster hitter.
When he came in, you directly brought Markande on, and that is very average captaincy. Markande went for 40 runs in 2 overs. ” said on his YouTube channel.