Pandya got angry after the defeat, vented his anger on the team’s bowlers, said- They…
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Hardik Pandya Statement: The opening pair of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 80 runs in just five overs, which sealed Rajasthan’s victory. Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya blamed his bowlers for the team’s defeat. After the second consecutive defeat, Hardik said that our bowlers fulfilled their responsibilities properly.
Hardik Pandya’s statement after defeat by Rajasthan Royals
Guwahati: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya got furious last night after the one-sided defeat to Rajasthan Royals. This was Mumbai’s second consecutive defeat after winning the first match in IPL 2026. After losing by 27 runs in the rain-affected match, Hardik thrashed the bowlers badly. The Mumbai captain said that the bowlers will have to take responsibility.
The start of the match was stopped for more than two hours due to rain. Later, Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl and the match was reduced to 11-11 overs. Man of the match Yashasvi Jaiswal (77 runs in 32 balls) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (39 runs in 14 balls) thrashed the Mumbai bowlers. Pandya said in the post match presentation:
We did not bowl the balls that should have been bowled in the powerplay. RR openers played well. Bowlers will have to take responsibility. As a bowling group we could not do well. I will not put the responsibility of the defeat of this match on batting. The bowling unit should have taken responsibility. It is always about bowling good balls. If we had bowled properly, we would have been in the match.
Pandya praised Vaibhav Suryavanshi wholeheartedly
Regarding Suryavanshi, Pandya said, ‘It is very interesting that a 15-16 year old boy plays like this. It’s nice to see his batting and fearlessness. Best wishes for his future. Regarding the next match, Pandya said, ‘We have to learn from mistakes. Tomorrow morning will come again, the sun will rise, we have to prepare well for the next match.
Rajasthan on top in points table
Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag said that the Jaiswal-Suryavanshi pair is the number one opening pair of the tournament. He said, ‘Both have the advantage of age. Vaibhav is amazing. Jaiswal has been doing this for the last 3-4 years. He has skill and maturity. They are the most wonderful. After winning the toss, Rajasthan scored 150 runs losing three wickets in 11 overs and then restricted Mumbai to 123/9 runs. With this 27-run win, Rajasthan won its third consecutive win and reached the top of the table with six points.
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Anshul Talmale is captaining the sports desk of Network18 Group from February 2025, wearing the jersey of Deputy News Editor. His unbeaten innings continues for the last decade with a tremendous strike rate. With his all-round ability…read more
