After MI’s fifth IPL 2024 defeat, Hardik Pandya says, “We Have to Accept Our Flaws” and encourages his teammates to reflect

In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) thrashed the Mumbai Indians by nine wickets on Monday at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Hardik Pandya, the captain of the losing team, said that his team was outplayed and had a poor day at the bat, with the ball, or even in the field.

The MI captain praised Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera for their fifth-wicket partnership of 99 runs off 52 balls, but he also said that MI was short of runs by ten to fifteen.

“We got into problems really quickly. It was excellent how Tilak (Verma) and Nehal (Wadhera) batted. We didn’t seem to believe we would even make 180 when we started losing wickets early. We were 10–15 runs short because we didn’t finish properly,” Pandya said after the game.

MI was unable to control the scoring pace or take wickets during the powerplay. The best bowler on the field and the only one to take wickets was Piyush Chawla.

MI missed a number of opportunities on the field, which is unusual for them.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled effectively, but in his last two overs, he was also struck. Due to the lack of influence from players like Gerald Coetzee, Muhammad Nabi, and Hardik himself, Nuwan Thushara was unable to make an impression on his debut.

“It had to stay within the stumps. We offered a lot of breadth early on the powerplay, and we didn’t have the finest day on the field overall, in my opinion. In general, we didn’t play well, and ultimately, they outperformed us, according to Pandya.

After suffering their fifth defeat of the year, MI maintained their seventh-place ranking, as their path to the playoffs became more rocky with each game they play.

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Pandya placed a strong emphasis on the players’ individual and team-wide need for reflection and correction.

“Going to the players after the game is not appropriate; they are all professionals and understand their jobs. All we can do is take what we’ve learned from the game and our errors, make the necessary corrections, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Progress is crucial. Individually and as a team, we will need to acknowledge and maybe improve upon our shortcomings. I like to support players and don’t think much of chip and chop. Our main priorities should always be to play excellent cricket, adhere to our plans, and avoid making simple mistakes. As long as we keep cricket basic, it’s wonderful, the man added.