Naman Dhir, who had impressed with a 46-run knock off just 24 balls in the previous match while batting at No. 3, was surprisingly sent in at No. 7 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya expressed his disappointment after MI’s defeat to RCB in their IPL 2025 clash at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
RCB, led by Rajat Patidar, continue to shatter expectations and conquer tough venues after ending a 17-year winless streak against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk, they have now registered their first-ever 10-over victory over MI at Wankhede. This win came despite a threatening partnership between Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya, who nearly pulled off a chase of RCB’s daunting 222-run total.
Hardik Pandya Reflects on High-Scoring Match, Player Performances, and Team Dynamics
After a run-fest of a game, Hardik Pandya shared his thoughts at the post-match presentation, highlighting the challenges faced by the bowlers and reflecting on team decisions and individual performances.
“It was a run-fest. The wicket was really good. I was just telling myself that once again, we fell short by two hits. I don’t have much to say,” Hardik said when asked about the nature of the match. “Was 221 par or above-par? The way the wicket played, bowlers didn’t really have many places to hide. It all came down to execution. You can try to stop the batters, but I don’t want to be too harsh on the bowlers—it was a tough track, and we didn’t have many options.”
On the team’s batting order and strategy, he added, “The original skeleton of our team had Naman batting down the order. In the last game, Ro [Rohit Sharma] wasn’t available, so we had to make a change and push someone up. Someone like Naman has a multi-dimensional game—he can bat up the order or at the death. Once Ro was back, we knew Naman would slot back down.”
Rohit Sharma had a quiet start to the IPL 2025 season, scoring 13, 8, and 0 in his first three matches before missing the previous clash against Lucknow Super Giants. Returning as an impact player in the 20th match of the season, he entered the field in the 15th over of the RCB innings and later opened the batting, scoring 17 runs off just 9 balls at a striking rate of 188.89.
Hardik also spoke about Tilak Varma’s performance and the criticism following his absence in the last game. “Tilak was fantastic today. Last game, people talked a lot, but they don’t know he had taken a nasty hit the day before. It was a tactical call by the coach, considering the injury, to let someone fresh take over. Powerplays are crucial in games like this, and we couldn’t really get going in the middle, which pushed us back in the chase. In the death overs, it came down to execution—we weren’t able to capitalize.”
The all-rounder concluded with praise for Jasprit Bumrah, who returned to action in IPL 2025. Though Bumrah went wicketless in his four overs, conceding 29 runs at an economy of 7.20, Pandya was optimistic.
Having Bumrah makes any team in the world special. He did his job, and we’re really happy to have him back. In life, never back down—always see the positive side. Go out there, play the best cricket of your life, and back yourself. We’re backing our players and hoping the results start coming our way.