India legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya’s decision to not bowl the final over against Gujarat Titans in a rain-curtailed thriller at the Wankhede Stadium could prove costly in the race for the IPL 2025 playoffs. Gavaskar made these remarks after Gujarat Titans edged past Mumbai Indians by three wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method to move to the top of the IPL points table.
The former India captain pointed to Pandya’s proven track record in high-pressure situations and questioned the logic behind giving the final over to Deepak Chahar, who has limited experience bowling at the death. “As I explained earlier, because of the fact that he had bowled those final o vers – 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.
Chasing a modest target of 156, Gujarat Titans stumbled early and fell behind the DLS par score when rain first interrupted play. After a stop-start encounter, which saw two rain delays, GT needed 15 runs off the final over following a weather-induced target revision to 147 from 19 overs.
IPL 2025. MI vs GT: Highlights
Mumbai handed the ball to Deepak Chahar, who had rarely bowled in the final overs. Rahul Tewatia and Gerald Coetzee capitalised – Tewatia hit a four off the first ball, and Coetzee smashed a six off the third. A costly no-ball by Chahar further tilted the game in GT’s favour. Although he dismissed Coetzee, Arshad Khan and Tewatia managed to scramble a single off the last delivery to seal a dramatic win.
“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.
He also pointed out that MI were penalised for a slow over-rate, which meant an additional fielder had to be brought inside the circle during the crucial final over – a tactical setback in such a tight contest.
“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.
With only a few games left in the league stage, five-time champions Mumbai Indians now face an uphill task to qualify for the playoffs.
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