Mumbai Indians’ (MI) newly appointed skipper Hardik Pandya would be dejected after the team’s defeat against Gujarat Titans (GT). Hardik Pandya as a bowler was taken to the cleaners as he conceded 30 runs in his first 3 overs and at the same time, his captaincy was quite questionable as well.
It won’t be wrong to say that the biggest positive for MI was the lethal speedster Jasprit Bumrah who took a 3 wicket haul and gave away only 14 runs in his 4 over spell. These are the encouraging signs for the billion people as just after the conclusion of IPL, we have ICC T20 WC 2024, It seemed as if Jasprit Bumrah was bowling to a particular gameplan and used his variations quite smartly.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya should have batted up the order as he is someone who can change the complexion of the match quite quickly. It was a bit too much for him to score 19 runs in the last over as the seasoned campaigner Umesh Yadav bowled a staggering bouncer and Pandya couldn’t clear the long on fielder. GT would be thrilled as not many gave them a chance to win the match as MI were in ascendancy.
We backed ourselves to chase those 42 runs- Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya was seen in the post match presentation and said that the side should have won the game in the last 5 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Hardik Pandya backed the decision of Tilak Varma of not taking the single against the bowling of Rashid Khan and was quite optimistic that the side can bounce back in the tournament.
“Obviously, we backed ourselves to chase those 42 runs but it was one of those days when we see the score quite less compared to what it could have been in five overs, I think we lost a little bit of momentum there,” said Hardik Pandya
“It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well. (On Tilak not taking the single vs Rashid) I think Tilak felt that that was a better idea at that point of time, I completely back him, not an issue, 13 games to go,” he added.