Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya was pretty disappointed after their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Wankhede Stadium on Monday. RCB, led by Rajat, has been surprising everyone lately. After knocking off the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk for the first time in 17 years, they’ve now taken down MI at Wankhede, which hasn’t happened in ten matches. This victory came despite a strong partnership between Tilak Varma and Hardik, who were chasing RCB’s 222 runs.
“It was a high-scoring match, and the pitch was great for batting. I felt like we fell just short once again. I don’t have much to add. As for the total of 221, with that pitch, the bowlers didn’t have a lot of space to work with. It came down to execution. We could stop the batsmen, but I don’t want to be tough on the bowlers. It was a challenging track, and our options were limited. As for our batting order, the plan was always to have Naman batting down the order, Hardik said after the match.
Rohit Sharma had a rough start in the IPL 2025, scoring 13, 8, and 0 in his first three games. He missed the last match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) but returned to play in this game as an impact player, joining in the 15th over and scoring 17 runs off nine balls, hitting two fours and a six.
“Last game, Rohit wasn’t available, so we had to change things up. He’s a versatile player who can come in handy at different stages. With Rohit back, we had to adjust Naman’s position. Tilak has been playing well, but he took a serious hit the day before. It was a strategic decision to put someone fresh in. In these matches, the powerplays are crucial, and we struggled there, which affected our chase. It boils down to execution in the final stages – we couldn’t make the most of those balls,” Hardik explained.
He also talked about Jasprit Bumrah, who played his first match of IPL 2025 but didn’t take any wickets, giving away 29 runs in his four overs.
“Just having Bumrah on the team makes a difference. He did his job, and we were glad to have him back. In life, you shouldn’t back down. Always look for the positive side. We just need to go out there, play the best cricket we can, and support each other. We’re all hoping for a better outcome next time,” Hardik wrapped up.
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