Former Mumbai Indians (MI) bowler Mitchell McClenaghan said that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) seamer Jamie Overton has exposed a major batting weakness in Hardik Pandya. McClenaghan made the comments ahead of the IPL 2026 clash between MI and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
Pandya was dismissed for 18 runs off 23 deliveries during the recent match against CSK at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. He hit only two boundaries before getting caught by Dewald Brevis at deep midwicket off Anshul Kamboj. The Mumbai franchise posted a total of 159/7, which the Super Kings chased in 18.1 overs.
Jamie Overton Exposed A Weakness In Hardik Pandya – Mitchell McClenaghan
Speaking on the Star Sports segment ‘Game Plan’, Mitchell McClenaghan said that Hardik Pandya struggled against hard-length deliveries outside off stump. He noted that the MI captain tried to muscle the ball down the ground and advised him to use the uppercut shot to access more scoring areas.
“Hardik Pandya has been struggling. And I think he (Jamie Overton) exposed a weakness in Hardik Pandya, that hard length outside the off stump, and Hardik just looked to muscle the ball maybe a little bit too much,” McClenaghan said.
“And I think back to when I was playing with Hardik Pandya, he had that uppercut shot he used quite regularly and he could hit over point. And it’s probably just him going back to what he used to play instead of just trying to look down the ground into mid-wicket.”
LSG Will Be Trying To Expose That Weakness – Mitchell McClenaghan Warns Hardik Pandya
Mitchell McClenaghan further warned that the upcoming opponents have the pace attack to exploit this same weakness. He said that Lucknow Super Giants’ fast bowlers will use their pace to target that length, forcing Hardik Pandya to find a quick counter-strategy.
“It’s actually opening up the whole ground and using the pace of the delivery as well because I think, particularly with this lineup that they’ve got, they’ve got high pace throughout their attack and LSG will be trying to expose that weakness that Jamie Overton found, and he’s going to have to find a way to combat that.”
Pandya has endured a disappointing season with the bat in the current tournament. The 32-year-old all-rounder has scored just 146 runs in eight innings at an average 20.85 and a strike rate of 136.44, with a top score of 40.
I Like The Changes That He’s Made – Mitchell McClenaghan On Suryakumar Yadav
During the same discussion, Mitchell McClenaghan also analyzed Suryakumar Yadav’s recent dismissals against high-speed short deliveries. He said that the technical adjustment of moving towards the leg side to create room will help him find gaps and score more consistently.
“Yeah, the trend is getting out to that short ball with high pace, and I think he’s (Suryakumar Yadav) probably made some adjustments in that last game against Chennai where he improved. He gave himself a little bit of room and was able to access the short ball and unfortunately holed out to deep point. But I like the changes that he’s made. He’s given himself a little bit of room, and if he continues in that fashion, I see him being able to hit the pockets a little bit easier because what a lot of teams are doing to him now, they know the angles that he hits.”
“And if he stays in his traditional position in the crease, he’s hitting it straight to fielders. So what he did was make that adjustment to come leg side so he can hit those pockets a little bit more, which we saw the start of. So it only takes one innings like that to get back on that run-scoring escalator.”
Suryakumar Yadav has also struggled to produce his usual explosive performances for the franchise this season. He has scored 183 runs in nine matches at an average of 20.33 and a strike rate of 144.09, with a highest score of 51.
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