Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians’ captain, remained calm when facing Sunrisers Hyderabad’s imposing target of 278 in Wednesday’s IPL 2024 match. As a video on social media shows, the all-rounder was relaxed and swaying to music playing at the venue. Despite the daunting chase, Pandya kept his composure and displayed a carefree attitude.
Hardik Pandya strode out to the crease in the 11th over of the Mumbai Indians’ innings, with the scoreboard reading 150-3 after Naman Dhir fell for a fast 30. However, the Baroda-born all-rounder could not contribute significantly to the total, falling for 24 off 20 deliveries, including a four and a six.
The 30-year-old won the toss and sent Sunrisers Hyderabad into bat, but the Orange Army annihilated the opposition’s bowling assault. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen each scored half-centuries to help the hosts reach a record-breaking 277/3. Despite a valiant effort in the second innings, Mumbai finished 31 runs short.
“We have a young bowling attack and we will learn” – Hardik Pandya
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Hardik Pandya believed the track was too batting-friendly and trusted his youthful bowling team to recover from the loss. The seam-bowling all-rounder, who bowled four overs for 46 runs and one wicket, said:
“Wicket was good, 277 no matter how bad or good you bowl, if the opposition has to score that much, they have batted well. They (the bowlers) were good, it was tough out there, almost 500 runs were scored and the wicket was helping the batters, we could have done a few things here and there, but having said that, we have a young bowling attack and we will learn. If the ball goes this many times into the crowd, you will need time to get the overs done.”
Hardik Pandya
April 1 sees Mumbai Indians host Rajasthan Royals, their maiden home match. This IPL campaign still lacks victory for the franchise. Fortunes could change on home turf against the Royals.