LSG vs MI: "Losing early wickets..." - Hardik Pandya takes a dig at Rohit Sharma after defeat

Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) locked horns with the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 48th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Tuesday, April 30, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

Mumbai Indians were invited to bat first in the match and they did a poor job. The top-order batters failed miserably and MI were reduced to 27/4. Nehal Wadhera (46) and Tim David (35) showed a good fight to power their team to a good total of 144/7 on the board. Defending the total, the MI bowlers did a good job and took the game deep, but the score was too small to defend and LSG won by 4 wickets.

Speaking after the match, Hardik Pandya said that the loss of early wickets cost them the game as they couldn't recover from it. Hardik Pandya took an indirect dig at Rohit Sharma and said:

"I think losing early wickets is tough to recover from and that's what we couldn't do it (recover) today. You still have to see the ball and hit. We just missed those balls and got out, that has been the kind of season we have had so far."

Hardik Pandya further said that they will take a lot of learnings from the game and try to bounce back strong. Hardik Pandya also lauded Nehal Wadhera and backed him to play for India National Cricket Team eventually.

"I have always believed that you will be up and you'll be up, just that you got to give it your all. A lot of things to learn from this game. It has been fantastic. I think he (Wadhera) did last year as well, he couldn't get opportunities earlier (in the tournament) but he will play a lot of IPL and (represent) India eventually."

Mumbai Indians' Current Position In The IPL 2024 Standings

Before their match against the Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians had won just two out of their last five matches while facing a defeat in three of them. They were at the ninth spot on the Indian Premier League 2024 points table with three wins and six defeats in nine matches and had 6 points in their bag.

On April 11, they won by 7 wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru before losing to Chennai Super Kings on April 14 by 20 runs. Then, they had won by 9 runs against Punjab Kings on April 18 before facing defeats in back-to-back matches against Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets on April 22 and against Delhi Capitals by 10 runs on April 27.

Now after the conclusion of the Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians clash, the 5-time Indian Premier League champions have remained in the same position.

Mumbai Indians will be next seen in action when they take on the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders in the 51st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on May 3 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.