Guwahati (Assam) [India], April 8 (ANI): Following his side’s loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR), Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya expressed optimism that “the sun will rise” for the five-time champions and expressed his admiration for the hitting displayed by 15-year-old RR opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
A blazing 32-ball 77* by Jaiswal and a stunning 14-ball 39 runs by Sooryavanshi helped RR reach 150/3 before bowlers restricted MI to 123/ 9 in this rain-truncated match, slipping to seventh spot in the points table.
For the Mumbai Indians, Nandre Burger (2/21), Sandeep Sharma (2/25) and Ravi Bishnoi (2/26) were the pick of the bowlers, despite the fire-power possessed by MI’s batting line-up.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Hardik noted the poor execution of his bowlers and said that in these 11 overs, the bowlers had to take more responsibility than bowlers.
“I think we did not execute the deliveries which we were supposed to, and they played well. I think our bowlers need to take responsibility. As a bowling group, we were not at all up to the mark, and they played tremendous cricket. I would not put this game on the batting. This was definitely the bowling unit which had to take responsibility. It is T20 cricket, it is about always bowling those right couple of balls. So if we had executed the right balls, yeah, we would have been in the game,” he said.
He also added that the openers Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi “threw MI out of the game”.
“It is quite fascinating to see a 17 or a 16-year-old boy playing the way he played. At the same point of time, discussing so much about him in the preparation leading up to the game. So yeah, amazing to see the way he bats, the kind of fearlessness he has, the kind of shots he has. I wish him absolute good luck in the future,” he added.
Speaking on their next game against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 12 at home, he said, “Just learn from the mistakes. The morning will come tomorrow, the sun will rise. So yeah, just learn from our mistakes and prepare well for the next game”
RR is at the top of the points table with three in three, delivering sensational results under skipper Riyan Parag. After starting off with a win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), MI has failed against Delhi Capitals (DC) and RR and are at the seventh spot in the points table.
Put to bat first, RR made 150/3 in 11 overs. In the run-chase, MI could not find the right tempo and lost wickets regularly, with Burger (2/21), Sandeep (2/25) and Bishnoi (2/26) being the pick of the bowlers. (ANI)
