With Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batters inflicting real damage at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday night, the Mumbai Indians made a late tactical adjustment in the second innings. Shardul Thakur was brought on as an Impact Player, yet he never got a single over as Mumbai suffered their sixth defeat of the season and sat ninth in the points table. The twist only deepened after the match when Mumbai’s batting coach, Kieron Pollard, admitted he had no clear understanding of how the decision was reached.
Quick facts
- Shardul Thakur was used as an Impact Player for Mumbai in the second innings.
- Despite being introduced, Thakur did not bowl any over.
- It was Mumbai’s sixth loss of the season, leaving them ninth in the points standings.
- The chase was set at 244, with the required overs extending to 18.4 in the second innings.
- Pollard said he would seek clarity after returning to the dressing room.
The decision came right after the powerplay, when Mumbai opted to bring Thakur in as their Impact Substitute. By then, Sunrisers’ openers—Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma—had already slammed 92 runs in the first six overs, creating a strong base for the chase of 244. Even with the match swinging toward the visitors’ endgame, Thakur still remained unused through the entire 18.4-over chase span.
Criticism followed quickly, with plenty of scrutiny aimed at Mumbai’s bowling unit after another poor collective effort from the five-time champions. What made the situation more striking was that even within the organisation, there appeared to be no ready explanation for why Thakur was not deployed with the ball. The move raised questions not just about execution, but also about planning and communication in the dugout.
Pollard admits he had no answer
When Pollard was asked about the omission during the post-match interaction in Mumbai, he conceded that he could not offer a justification on the spot. He said he would return to ask for clarity, adding that the conversation might have been different if Thakur had conceded runs in an over. Pollard’s overall message made it clear that the logic behind the Impact decision was not fully settled, at least from the batting coach’s perspective.
“About why we didn’t have Shardul bowl a single over… I will go back and ask. Then again, if he had given away 20 runs in an over, it would have been a totally different conversation,” Pollard said. The admission sounded like damage control, but it also underlined how unusual the scenario had been for a team making such a specific in-game change.
The incident also throws a spotlight on the broader pressures inside the Mumbai setup. Thakur’s role was not accidental—he was selected as an Impact Sub after deliberation in the dugout. On a night when the bowling attack was getting dismantled, it would be hard to believe the captain simply forgot about the additional bowling option, especially as runs were piling up against them.
That opens the possibility that the team management did not trust Thakur to operate in those conditions, rather than the decision being a mere oversight. Such a reading would suggest differences in thinking inside the decision-making group, particularly on when and how to use an Impact Player when the match script is going against you.
Former players baffled by the move
The confusion was not confined to Mumbai’s dressing room. Former India cricketers Murali Kartik and Virender Sehwag also struggled to make sense of the decision when discussing it on Cricbuzz. Kartik said he did not understand why Thakur was even brought in, suggesting that the team might have forgotten about him, before adding that only “god” could explain why it was handled this way.
Sehwag, meanwhile, argued that Shardul is known for taking wickets and should have been given at least one over, particularly after being introduced as an Impact Player. He suggested that if a bowler with wicket-taking ability is called in for impact, the team should at minimum attempt to strike with him. Sehwag further stated that only Hardik Pandya could properly explain why Thakur wasn’t used, pointing out that since his involvement he typically finds ways to take wickets even when batters are on the attack.
Another major talking point came from Aakash Chopra, who questioned whether this was the first time an Impact Player had been introduced as a bowler but not used for even a single delivery in an IPL match. Chopra highlighted the rarity of the situation, asking on social media whether any case like it had occurred before, and noting that it happened with Shardul that night.
