'Whenever someone's down...': Hardik Pandya comes up with hard-hitting reply on ‘back in good mental space?’ question during toss

After a tumultuous return to Mumbai Indians (MI) in the previous IPL season, captain Hardik Pandya will be looking to begin anew with the franchise in IPL 2025. Hardik Pandya encountered a difficult reception after taking over the MI captaincy from Rohit Sharma before the 2024 edition. He was often booed by fans at the stadium during the MI matches. The controversy surrounding this leadership change seemed to cast a shadow over MI's entire season, which culminated in a disappointing last-place finish with only four victories out of 14 games.

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However, since that setback, Hardik has turned all the boos into cheers. He played crucial, match-winning innings for India on their path to winning T20 World Cup 2024 title in the West Indies. He then continued his impressive form, delivering outstanding performances as India went undefeated to clinch Champions Trophy 2025 title. Now, Hardik's focus will be on replicating this success with Mumbai Indians. As he prepared to step onto the field for MI's second match of the season against the Gujarat Titans, he has spoken about returning to the team in a much improved state, both mentally and physically.

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“It's fantastic. The preparation has been fantastic. All the boys are raring to go. The goal is to be very clear; we want to do well as a group, back each other, and be there for each other as much as possible. Whenever someone's down, we are going to lift them up. It has been very clear, and we are in a happy state,” Hardik told Bishop during toss.

Pandya was notably absent from the Mumbai Indians' first game of the season against the Chennai Super Kings due to a one-match suspension carried over from the previous season for a slow over-rate. However, league's rules regarding such punishments were revised and the penalty was removed entirely before the current season commenced.

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In their second match, against his former team in Ahmedabad, Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first. His return to the playing eleven was the sole change made to the MI lineup for this game. Both the Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans are gunning for their first win in the ongoing IPL 2025. While MI had suffered a loss against CSK in their campaign opener, while GT were defeated by Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat Titans' playing XI

Shubman Gill (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Gujarat Titans Impact Subs: Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Phillips, Ishant Sharma, Anuj Rawat, Washington Sundar

Mumbai Indians' Playing XI

Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Satyanarayana Raju
Mumbai Indians Impact Subs: Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks