Amidst getting booed from the coin toss to the boundary Riyan Parag hit to win the match, Hardik Pandya had a tough night even though he showed glimpses of his true self with the bat under pressure. Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Pandya took the blame for the defeat as he was unable to carry on after getting a good start but explained what he needs from the current group of players going forward.
“It's all about doing the right things, (correct) results happen at times, at some other times it doesn't. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage,” Hardik told the broadcasters after the six-wicket defeat at Wankhede Stadium.
Hardik was dismissed for a 21-ball 34 by veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. After his wicket in the 10th over, MI managed to add 49 more runs to the total.
“Yes, a tough night, we didn't start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter, we were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game, I needed to do a lot more. It's okay, we didn't expect such a surface, but you can't always have it as a batter, it's nice at times for the bowlers to have a say,” the 30-year-old said.
Toss was crucial
On the other hand, RR skipper Sanju Samson felt that the toss was the ‘game changer’ and he did not expect a collapse of such proportions in the powerplay overs.
“I think the toss was the game changer. The wicket was too sticky to start off, and the experience of Boult and Burger helped us. He's playing since 10-15 years, and that is what we expected with the new ball. Didn't expect 4-5 wickets to fall, but we knew our bowlers would do well,” Samson said in the post-match presentation.
MI’s next home encounter
After three defeats, MI will host Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals on April 7. Currently, the five-time IPL champions are at the bottom of the points table.
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