WATCH: Jasprit Bumrah consoles crying Hardik Pandya after Punjab Kings knock out Mumbai Indians from IPL 2025
New Delhi: Having Hardik Pandya as captain of Mumbai Indians did not turn out as well as expected. They encountered huge challenges in their first year, failed to adapt and ended up in last place on the table. While winning their first game of the year, they just missed grabbing the title as they made the playoffs and lost Qualifier 2 to the Punjab Kings. In spite of their victory in the Eliminator, the season concluded badly for the five-time champions.
Despite Mumbai Indians setting a seemingly achievable target of 203 runs, Punjab Kings, led by Shreyas Iyer’s impressive performance, secured a comfortable five-wicket victory with an over to spare. While Hardik Pandya felt the total was sufficient given his bowlers’ past performances, Iyer’s team proved him wrong.
Hardik Pandya appeared overwhelmed with emotion and wept openly before receiving comfort from Jasprit Bumrah. The captain looked disheartened and alone, struggling to process the team’s performance and the pressure of following in Rohit Sharma’s successful footsteps as Mumbai’s captain. He clearly felt the weight of expectation and the difficulty of maintaining the team’s winning legacy.
Trent Boult’s missed catch of Nehal Wadhera proved to be a pivotal moment in the match. This unfortunate event allowed Wadhera to contribute a significant 48 runs himself, and he went on to forge a substantial partnership of over 80 runs with Iyer. The missed opportunity significantly altered the game’s trajectory.
Mumbai’s elimination was partly due to Punjab’s strong batting performance against Bumrah, who unfortunately gave up 40 runs in his four overs without taking a wicket. This contributed significantly to Mumbai’s defeat.
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