‘It is a crime’: Hardik Pandya loses his cool after Mumbai Indians’ loss to Gujarat Titans – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya described the no-balls bowled by him and his teammates as a “crime” following their three-wicket defeat through the DLS technique in opposition to Gujarat Titans in a thrilling contest on the Wankhede Stadium. In the midst of a tight playoffs race, heavy rain momentarily swung momentum in Mumbai’s favour, with the hosts forward by 5 runs on the DLS chart after 18 overs. As MI waited within the dressing room, hoping for a rain-shortened win, Gujarat Titans remained prepared for any alternative.Eventually, there was simply sufficient time left on the clock for a one-over shootout to decide the winner. GT wanted 15 runs off the ultimate six deliveries, and Mumbai have been left with solely 4 fielders exterior the interior circle after being penalised for a sluggish over price.Deepak Chahar was handed the duty of bowling the ultimate over. He conceded a boundary after which a huge six, lowering the equation to 5 runs from three balls. Succumbing to strain, he bowled a no-ball that handed the momentum squarely to the Titans.In addition to Deepak’s expensive error, Hardik himself overstepped twice throughout his 11-ball eighth over. The no-ball troubles weren’t MI’s solely missteps—earlier, they dropped a essential catch of Gujarat captain Shubman Gill on the second ball of the twelfth over. Gill miscued a shot off Ashwani Kumar, and although Tilak Varma sprinted in to take the catch, he failed to maintain on.

Reflecting on the defeat, which ended MI’s six-match successful streak, Hardik mentioned, “Catches did not really cost us, but the no-balls, with my no-balls and even in the last no-ball, in my eyes in T20s, it is a crime and more often than not, it bites you. But I am really happy with the boys for giving their 120 per cent, ensuring we were in the game and not giving up.”Mumbai’s bowlers had fought valiantly after the batters put up a sub-par efficiency. Despite high-order failures, Will Jacks (53), Suryakumar Yadav (35), and Corbin Bosch (27) managed to take MI to 155/8—helped by some lucky moments.Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult then led a spirited bowling effort. Bumrah dismissed Gill and Shahrukh Khan, whereas Boult trapped Sherfane Rutherford lbw to hold MI within the hunt.Hardik admitted that Mumbai have been 20–30 runs quick of a aggressive complete however counseled the bowling unit for his or her resilience.“Yes, definitely (tough way to go down). We fought well with the total we had. Most of the time, we were out of the game, but we pushed as a group. It was a game of margins,” he mentioned.“It was definitely not a 150-wicket. It was a 175-wicket, we were short in batting by 20-25 or maybe 30 runs if we had batted well. Credit to the bowlers. They kept fighting, and we could not finish the job,” he added.

Rain repeatedly interrupted the match, and though Hardik acknowledged the disruptions have been removed from supreme, he careworn the necessity to adapt.“The ground, in the first innings, was not wet, but post that, throughout, the ball kept getting wetter. Not sure if it helped us or not, it was difficult. Rain kept coming in, not ideal to have stoppages and start again. But the game goes on, we had to play a game (in the end), and we definitely did,” he concluded.