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Mumbai Indians (MI), who were languishing at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table few days back, surged to top of the standings after their resounding 100-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Man Singh stadium on May 1.
Batting first Hardik Pandya's men put up a formidable total of 217 runs for the loss of just two wickets. This impressive score was built upon stellar batting performances from Ryan Rickelton, who scored 61 runs, and Rohit Sharma, who contributed 53. Suryakumar Yadav also played a crucial innings, remaining unbeaten on 48 off just 23 deliveries, a feat matched by his captain, Hardik Pandya, who also scored an unbeaten 48 from 23 balls.
When it was their turn to bowl, the Mumbai Indians displayed exceptional skill, dismantling the Rajasthan Royals' batting lineup. RR were eventually bowled out for a mere 117 runs in 16.1 overs. The MI bowlers who claimed wickets were Trent Boult and Karn Sharma, both taking three wickets each, Jasprit Bumrah with two, and Deepak Chahar and Hardik Pandya, each taking one.
During the post-match presentation, Hardik Pandya offered his assessment of the team's performance. While lauding their clinical performance with the ball, he also noted that there was room for improvement in their batting display.
"Especially the way they batted. Absolutely clinical with the ball. We could have got maybe 15 runs more. We kind of missed out," Hardik said at the post-match presentation.
Expanding on the MI's batting strategy, Hardik shed light on a conversation he had with Suryakumar Yadav. He proceeded to detail the approach taken by the MI batsmen as they constructed their high-scoring innings.
"(talk with SKY) What we were trying to speak to each other was to play percentage shots and cricket shots. Value of shots are there if you hit the gaps, Ro and Ryan batted the same way, Ryan kept the intent and he targeted those boundaries and it was fantastic. It is never about people getting chances, it is about what is required of that situation," he added.
"People are going back to what is called batsmanship, it is about hitting the gaps, run hard and the way we batted was proper batsmanship," Hardik further stated
Concluding his remarks, Hardik directed high praise towards his bowling unit, acknowledging their big contribution to the victory. He also expressed the team's collective desire to maintain humility moving forward.
"I don't know who all to mention, the kind of bowling attack we have and the experience, I don't have to worry. Everyone is very clear and we are going back to simple cricket, it is working for us and hopefully it continues. We want to be humble, very disciplined and keep focusing," Hardik concluded.
MI will next lock horns with Gujarat Titans (GT) on May 6 at the Wankhede stadium while RR will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 4 at the Eden Gardens.
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