IPL 2024: MI Skipper Hardik Pandya Encourages Teammates to Self-Reflect Following Fifth Defeat

Mumbai Indians suffered a 9-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday. Hardik Pandya, the captain of the losing team, said that his team did not have a good day with bat, ball or even in the field and were outplayed. The MI skipper praised Tilak Verma and Nehal Wadhera as the duo put on a 52-ball 99 for the fifth wicket, but added that MI were about 10-15 runs short.

“We put ourselves in trouble early on. The way Tilak (Verma) and Nehal (Wadhera) batted – it was fantastic. I don’t think we thought we would even get to 180 when we lost two wickets early on. We didn’t finish well and that’s why we were 10-15 runs short,” Pandya said after the match. MI failed to take wickets in the powerplay and neither could they keep the scoring rate down. Piyush Chawla was also the pick of the bowlers and the only wicket taker.

MI gave up multiple chances in the field which were uncharacteristic of them.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled well but he too was hit in his final two overs. Nuwan Tushara failed to impress on debut as Gerald Coetzee, Mohammad Nabi and Hardik himself failed to make much of an impact. “We had to keep it inside the stumps. At the start of the powerplay, we gave a lot of width and I don’t think it was our best day in the field either. Overall, we didn’t put the right foot on the park and eventually, they left us behind,” Pandya said. MI finished seventh after their fifth loss of the season, as their path to the playoffs looks bumpier with every match played.

Pandya emphasized the need for introspection and improvement for the players individually and the team as a whole.

“After the game, it’s not the right time to go to the players, everyone is professional, they know their roles. What we can do is learn from this game and the mistakes we made, correct them and make sure we don’t do them again. Progress is very important. Within the team, individually, we have to admit our shortcomings and maybe work on them. I don’t believe much in chip and chop, I like to support the players and the focus will always be on playing good cricket, sticking to our plans and making sure we don’t make fundamental mistakes. Cricket is simple, as long as we keep it simple, it’s great,” he said.