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Mumbai Indians (MI) got knocked out of IPL 2025 with the five-wicket defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday in the second qualifier at the Narendra Modi stadium. Though the Mumbai-based franchise did bat well and posted a big total of 203/6 in 20 overs, their bowlers ended up disappointing big time as PBKS went on to reach the target in 19 overs.
Hardik Pandya gave a poor all-round performance against PBKS
MI skipper Hardik Pandya had a disappointing day at the office in particular as he first played a poor knock of 15 runs from 13 deliveries and though he did pick up the big wicket of Josh Inglis, he also proved to be on the expensive side and gave away 19 runs in his two-over bowling spell.
Former India cricketer Varun Aaron questioned why Pandya didn't complete his quota of four overs despite having experience of bowling at the stadium located in Ahmedabad.
"Hardik and Santner have just bowled two overs. I don't know why Hardik didn't bowl 4 overs in this game because he's bowled so much on this wicket, playing for GT. He had to bowl four overs; he looked very difficult to get away, especially in his first over. Yeah, he went for a few in the second over, but he should have still persevered because his plans were right and he executes them really well, those back of line, slow balls, slow bouncers," Aaron said on ESPNcricinfo.
Aaron was also left baffled with Pandya's decision of only giving two overs to left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner. The Kiwi only quite economical during his overs and only gave away 15 runs.
"Santner was bowling so well, he was just doing exactly what was needed. There was no reason not to give Santner his four overs," Aaron added.
MI's IPL 2025 journey was brought to an end by PBKS, who reached the 204-run target mainly thanks to skipper Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten knock of 87 runs from 41 deliveries. Overall, it was a decent season for the Mumbai-based franchise, who made it to the playoffs despite a disastrous start to the campaign where they only managed to win one out of their first five matches.
The five-time IPL champions finished the league stage on the fourth place with 16 points from 14 matches. They went on to record a monumental 20-run victory over the Gujarat Titans in the eliminator and moved on to the second qualifier where they failed to get past PBKS.
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