Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn took an indirect dig at Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya after his post-match interaction following a comprehensive nine-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals. Steyn wants players to be honest instead of playing it safe and give a diplomatic answer.
“I really look forward to the day players might say what’s honestly on their mind. Instead we some how dumbed ourselves and our minds into saying the usual safe thing, lose the next game, smile and then repeat that nonsense again,” Steyn wrote on X after MI lost their fifth game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Like all the games in IPL 2024, Pandya maintained a smile on his face after the defeat. He chose to look at the positives early on with a hint of criticism for bowlers’ line in powerplay overs that let RR openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal score freely.
“We put ourselves in trouble early on. The way Tilak and Nehal batted - that was fantastic. I don't think that when we lost a couple of wickets early we thought we would even reach 180. We didn't finish well and that's why we were 10-15 runs short,” the all-rounder told the broadcasters.
“We had to keep it within the stumps (while bowling). Early on in the powerplay, we gave a lot of width and I don't think it was our best day in the field as well. Overall, we did not put the right foot on the park and eventually they outplayed us.”
Pandya's take on dropped catches
Jaiswal and RR skipper Sanju Samson's catches were dropped and ground fielding wasn't impressive as well. Pandya chose not to criticise the fielders as well.
“After the game, it's not the right time to go to the players, everyone is professional, they know their roles. What we can do is learn from this game and the mistakes which we have made, rectify it and make sure that we don't make it. Progression is very important. Within the team, individually, we will have to accept our flaws and maybe work on those,” the 30-year-old said.
He also said that he won't be looking to make changes as it is in his nature to back the players.
“I don't believe much in chip and chop, I like to back players and the focus would always be to play good cricket, sticking to our plans and making sure that we don't make the basic errors. Cricket is simple, as long as we keep it simple, it's nice,” he further added.
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