"Where Is Jasprit Bumrah?": Kevin Pietersen, Sunil Gavaskar Blast Hardik Pandya For Tactical Decision

Former England cricket team batter Kevin Pietersen and legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar were extremely critical of Hardik Pandya's decision to bowl the first over during the match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024 on Sunday. The MI skipper decided to start proceedings with the new ball instead of choosing star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah - a choice that led to a lot of discussion in the commentary box. Things got worse as Hardik was taken to be the cleaners by GT openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha with the all-rounder conceding 20 runs in his first six deliveries.

"Why Jasprit Bumrah is not opening the bowling? I don't understand this," Pietersen remarked.

"Very good question. Very, very good question," Gavaskar replied on commentary.

Even Irfan Pathan took to social media to have his say on the matter.

“Where is Bumrah?” he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Where is Bumrah?

Gujarat went on to score 169 runs with the bat, a decent total on the wicket. Mumbai Indians were off to a bad start as Ishan Kishan feathered an edge to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, dismissed for a four-ball duck by Azmatullah Omarzai. MI was 0/1 in 0.4 overs.

Rohit Sharma later on developed a brief partnership with young batter Naman Dhir, a 24-year-old with an experience of four T20 innings. Rohit smacked Umesh Yadav for two cracking fours while Naman smashed Omarzai for three fours and a six.

However, Omarzai had the last laugh, trapping Naman leg-before-wicket for 20 in 10 balls, with three fours and a six. MI was 30/2 in three overs. Rohit, however, was unfazed as he continued punishing Umesh with a four and a six.

Dewald Brevis was next up on the crease. With a delightful boundary on Rashid Khan's