SRH vs MI: Mumbai Indians’ new captain Hardik Pandya reacts after losing the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The team’s performance going down since Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians.
The eighth match of IPL 2024 was played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium Hyderabad. In this match, Hyderabad beat Mumbai by 31 runs, setting up a record score. It was Mumbai’s second straight defeat under Hardik Pandya. Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 277 runs for 3 wickets while batting first. But Mumbai could score only 246 runs in reply. After this defeat, captain Hardik Pandya explained the reason for the defeat.
A total of 523 runs were scored in this match, which is an IPL record. Not only this, 38 sixes were hit in this match, which is a new record in T20 cricket. Mumbai Indians’ new captain Hardik Pandya has made a big statement after losing the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Mumbai Indians made Hardik Pandya their captain in IPL 2024 and the team has fared poorly under his leadership so far.
In the first match, Mumbai lost to Gujarat Titans. Now in the second match, Mumbai also lost against Hyderabad. Due to this the Mumbai Indians team is at the ninth position in the points table. Speaking on the defeat, Hardik Pandya said, “We didn’t imagine that Sunrisers Hyderabad team would score 277 runs. The pitch was good. No matter how bad or how well you bowled, the opposition team batted well to put up such a big score. The pitch was not good for the bowlers. The pitch was good for the batsmen, which resulted in nearly 500 runs.”
Defending his team, Hardik Pandya said, “We have a young bowling attack and we will learn. It takes time to complete the over as the ball goes into the audience repeatedly. Well done to all the batsmen.” Mumbai gave South Africa’s 17-year-old fast bowler Kwena Maphaka a chance to make his debut in this match. Kwena Mfaka scored 66 runs in 4 overs in this match. Hardik Pandya also reacted to this.
Hardik Pandya said, “Young Kwena Maphaka is a good fast bowler. But he needs to play some more matches.”Kwena Maphaka did not get a single wicket in this match. Meanwhile, his economy rate was also 16.50. This is the worst bowling performance by any bowler on IPL debut. South Africa fast bowler Kwena Maphaka is yet to play an international match, but the 17-year-old fast bowler took 21 wickets at an average of 9.71 at the 2024 U-19 World Cup and was named Man of the Tournament.
The defeat invited slamming from the Pathan brothers- former Indian all-rounders Irfan and Yusuf. Targeting Pandya, they expressed their disappointment about the captain’s methodology. Irfan criticised Pandya’s batting and Yusuf expressed his anguish about the decision of a spinner bowling the last over.
Hardik as a captain is trying to motivate the team. As per reports, Hardik tried to energise the team in the dressing room by saying- “Toughest soldiers get the toughest test, and we are the toughest team in the competition.”
It will be fun to see how Hardik brings the team from ninth position to the top. This IPL season is a real test of Hardik Pandya as a captain. Let’s wish him good luck.
(Image courtesy: Twitter)
