The match changed due to my dismissal: Hardik Pandya

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Mumbai Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya considered his dismissal as a turning point after they suffered a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals on a bowling-friendly pitch in the 14th match of the Indian Premier League.

Trent Boult dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dheer and Dewald Brewis for a duck on the first ball and Andre Berger sent back Ishan Kishan (16) to reduce Mumbai Indians’ score to 20/4 in the fourth over, after which Pandya and Tilak Verma scored 56 runs. Mumbai’s score became 76/5 after Pandya was out while trying to play a big shot off Chahal’s ball. Pandya scored 34 runs in 21 balls while Tilak Verma added 32 runs in 29 balls. Mumbai Indians again lost a lot of wickets and could ultimately score 125/9 in 20 overs.

Riyan Parag scored the only half-century of the match, scoring 54 not out from 39 balls, as Rajasthan Royals recovered from a difficult situation of 48/3 to reach 127/4 in 15.3 overs and win by six wickets with 27 balls to spare.

Pandya, who faced repeated criticism from the home fans on Monday, said his wicket changed the game and added that he could have performed better.

During the post-match presentation, Pandya said, “We didn’t start the way we wanted, it was tough tonight. (On his innings) I think we are in a good position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160.” But I think my wicket changed the game. “They should have performed better in the match and I think I could have performed better.”

Pandya said it was unexpected to see the bowlers getting so much help from the pitch early on, but he also said it was good to see the bowlers getting something from the wicket.

“It’s good to have something for the bowlers too. The game is quite cruel to the bowlers. But this was unexpected,” he said.

Despite the defeat, Pandya said the team believes it can still recover and get the campaign back on track. He said that to do this they would have to be more disciplined and show more courage.

“It’s all about doing the right things. The result, sometimes it doesn’t happen. I don’t think it surprises me anymore. But as a group, we believe we We can do a lot of better things going forward and we just need to be more disciplined and show more courage.”

The Mumbai Indians captain will be hoping that things go well for his team in the next match to be held at the same Wankhede Stadium on April 7.

–IANS

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