Shardul Thakur was included in the 7th over but remained unused (Screengrab/Willow TV)
Mumbai Indians’ mysterious use of Shardul Thakur as an Impact Sub has sparked a wave of criticism from fans after the all-rounder, who was introduced in the seventh edition of MI vs SRH in IPL 2026, failed to bowl once – despite the MI bowlers enduring a hot day with the ball at the Wankhede.The move quickly became one of the biggest talking points of the match, with fans questioning the logic behind putting a versatile all-rounder in the front line and then not using him at all.
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“We didn’t play good cricket” – Mahela Jayawardene after MI’s biggest IPL loss vs CSKAfter putting 243 on the board, MI were in for a rude shock as Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head made it 115/0 in just seven overs. MI, who made a number of changes to their playing eleven, opted to drop batsman Robin Minz in favor of Thakur in the hope of breaking the partnership and gaining more bowling cushion.But Thakur didn’t bowl in the end as SRH trotted home with the record chase with more than more to spare. On a day when every MI player was taken to the cleaners, the move was incomprehensible not to hand the ball to Thakur to stem the flow of SRH batting.Trent Boult conceded 41 runs in his four overs while Jasprit Bumrah had a day to remember, returning with figures of 4-0-54-0. Allah Ghazanfar, despite picking up two wickets, also escaped the runs and gave away 51 in his four overs, while Ashwani Kumar returned figures of 2-0-41-0. Hardik Pandya achieved an economy of 10.63 while Will Jacks’ solitary over cost 19 runs. Yet there was no sign of Thakur, who has 113 wickets from 112 matches in the IPL and is widely known as a partnership breaker.Here’s how social media reacted to the bizarre decision:
SRH demolish MI at Wankhede
The MI bowlers were dismantled by the SRH batsmen with none of them scoring less than 10 runs in an over. Notably, the ever-reliable Jasprit Bumrah returned figures of 0/54 in four overs.
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Will MI bounce back in the next match after this defeat?
Mumbai Indians, powered by Ryan Rickelton’s 55-ball unbeaten 123, posted 243/5 in 20 overs after opting to bat first. Led by Travis Head (76 off 30 balls), Heinrich Klaasen (65* off 30), Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) and Salil Arora (30* off 10), Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down the target with eight balls to spare.
