Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya was left heartbroken and teary-eyed after his team suffered a disappointing loss against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2025. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosted the clash. MI got knocked out of the tournament, while PBKS will now face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the summit clash on Tuesday (June 3).
MI batted first after losing the toss and notched up a decent total of 203 for six in 20 overs. Middle-order batters Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma scored 44 runs each, while Jonny Bairstow (38) and Naman Dhir (37) played impressive knocks as well.
Shreyas Iyer then led PBKS from the front in the chase with a stupendous knock of 87* (41), guiding them to a comfortable five-wicket win in 19 overs. After Iyer's winning six, Hardik Pandya was highly disappointed and had tears in his eyes, with Suryakumar Yadav and others trying to console him.
You can get a glimpse of the distraught Hardik Pandya in the video below (from 3:06):
"We were not able to execute the way we wanted"- Hardik Pandya after MI's exit from IPL 2025
At the post-match presentation, MI skipper Hardik Pandya credited the PBKS batters for performing well before admitting that his bowling unit could not execute their plans properly. Reflecting on the defeat, the all-rounder said:
"They batted really well. I think it was a par total but it needed some really great execution as a bowling unit which in all these big games, really matters. They were really, really calm and put us under pressure. We were not able to execute the way we wanted. I'll not put it on the wicket. If we had to do something better it was to bowl better lengths and bowl the right ball at the right time."
"Maybe I could have managed the troops better and the result could have been different. In hindsight, it would have been different but we could have left it a bit too early as well. Boom, knowing him, even if 18 balls were left, Jassi can be Jassi and do something special. It just didn't happen today," Pandya continued.
What do you think cost MI the match against PBKS? Let us know your opinions in the comments section.
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