‘MS Dhoni started this trend…’: CSK legend mentioned as Hardik Pandya faces backlash for Santner's treatment vs LSG

The ex-IND spinner suggested that when Santner was chosen to replace Tilak in the middle, the skipper should have shown some faith in his skills.

Former India cricketer Murali Kartik criticised Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya for not showing enough confidence in Mitchell Santner's batting abilities as he denied a single in the last over. Mumbai Indians made a bold call in the penultimate over as Tilak Varma retired out to make way for Santner for the last seven balls. However, the Kiwi all-rounder only faced two balls out of seven, and Hardik denied singles in the last over, taking the onus on himself to play the big shots. MI needed 22 runs off the final over, and Hardik Pandya played the first five balls in which he managed to score just 9.

Hardik Pandya had a word with MS Dhoni during the training session ahead of the CSK vs MI clash.(PTI Image)

The five-time champions faced scrutiny for Tilak's decision as they have now suffered three losses in the first four matches and are placed in seventh place on the points table.

Tilak came in as an Impact Player for MI but the left-handed batter struggled to get going and scored 25 off 23 balls before getting retired out. He hit a couple of boundaries.

Kartik was baffled by Mumbai Indians' approach. He suggested that when Santner was chosen to replace Tilak in the middle, the skipper should have shown some faith in his skills and taken singles in the last over.

"I did not understand what MI were trying to do. If you feel that Tilak is not having a good day, he is not able to strike it well, you brought in Santner, and he scored 2 runs off 1 ball. If you brought Santner in with the belief that he can hit big, then why didn't they take a single in the last over? The shots that Pandya missed, who knows, Santner could have hit them for sixes," Kartik said on Cricbuzz.

The former left-arm spinner asserted that legendary India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni started the trend of taking the game deep and denying singles. However, Kartik wasn't very pleased with other players following the same.

"I think MS Dhoni started this trend of denying singles. Now many players are doing this," he added.