Hardik Pandya put on a brave face after Mumbai Indians' (MI) humiliating six-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals at home. Notably, MI suffered their third straight defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). Despite being at the receiving end of constant booing from the unhappy Wankhede crowd after his surprise captaincy appointment, Hardik Pandya urged his teammates to show more courage from now on.
It was a horrific night for Mumbai's batting, they were reduced to 20/4 inside four overs after Trent Boult's devastating opening spell which saw Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, and Naman Dhir getting dismissed for golden ducks. Hardik (34 off 21) and Tilak Varma (32 off 29) provided some resistance as Mumbai managed to finish with 125/9 on the board.
Alongside Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal (3/11) and pacer Nandre Burger (2/32) also picked up crucial wickets, thereby sharing five wickets between them.
We were in a decent position: Hardik Pandya
Meanwhile, reflecting on the match and MI's losing streak, new leader Hardik Pandya said that he was confident of his group coming good ahead as the team holds a self belief to get out of the rough patch. Besides, he urged his teammates to try to play with a more positive mindset under pressure situations. Hardik took the blame for the batting failure, admitting his dismissal trying to accelerate was the turning point.
"Results, sometimes it happens it doesn't. I don't think much surprises me anymore. But as a group, we believe we can pull off a lot of better things going forward and we just need to be more disciplined and show more courage," Pandya said during the post-match press conference.
Also Read: Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians have made some tactically quite poor decisions: Stuart Broad
"I think we were in a decent position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160 but I think my wicket changed the game and brought them more in the game and I think I could have done better," Pandya concluded.
Speaking of the run chase, at one stage RR were in the middle of a tricky phase after losing two wickets in quick succession. However, Riyan Parag continued his sublime run with the bat and scored an unbeaten 54 off 39 balls guiding the visitors home with 27 balls to spare. Parag also received the orange cap after his consistent performances in this season so far.
Also Read: Trent Boult seems getting young with age: Shane Watson
The five-time champions have a small break before facing Delhi at home on April 7. Currently, MI are languishing at the bottom of the IPL points table and are the only side in the season who are yet to win their first game. On the contrary, Rajasthan-based franchise are at the helm after their latest victory and will now fly back home to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru for their next IPL 2024 encounter on April 6.
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