'Bowlers were good...' - Hardik Pandya's shocking statement following MI's loss to SRH after conceding 277 runs

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya opened up about the disappointing loss his team faced against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He said that his bowlers were good and he liked what he saw today.

Mumbai Indians were handed their second successive loss in the Indian Premier League as Sunrisers Hyderabad won the game by 31 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. It was a torrid bowling display from their end as they conceded the highest-ever total in the League.

Skipper Hardik Pandya made quite a few errors with his bowlers here and there and it ultimately saw Mumbai giving up 277 runs. One of the talking points of the game was the way he handled Jasprit Bumrah. The fast bowler after bowling his first over in powerplay didn’t come to ball till the 13th over.

SRH batters till the time had their feet going and at the stage, even great Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t do anything. Skipper Hardik Pandya along with Gerald Coetzee, young Kwena Maphaka, Piyush Chawla, and Shams Mulani had an economy of over 11.

Sunrisers batters Travis Head (62), Abhishek Sharma (63), Aiden Markram (42*), and Heinrich Klaasen (80*) went berserk and made Mumbai Indians bowlers look clueless. With the way they were batting, even 300 runs seemed a possibility.

In the chase, Mumbai batters made sure that they gave their everything. Rohit Sharma (26) and Ishan Kishan (34) gave a solid start. Before Naman Dhir (30) and Tilak Varma (64) made vital contributions.

Skipper Hardik Pandya (24) struggled to get going and Tim David (42*) too couldn’t set the stage on fire as he would’ve wanted. Mumbai managed 245 runs and lost the game by a margin of 31 runs.

Hardik Pandya opened up about the loss, saying that he didn’t expect SRH to score 277 runs. He admitted that they made some mistakes but was optimistic that his young bowling lineup would learn up. Speaking to broadcasters, he explained:

“Not really (thought SRH would score 277 at the toss). Wicket was good, 277 no matter how bad or good you bowl, if the opposition has to score that much, they have batted well. They (the bowlers) were good, it was tough out there, almost 500 runs were scored and the wicket was helping the batters, we could have done a few things here and there, but having said that, we have a young bowling attack and we will learn.”

It is just a matter of time before we put things right – Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya also lauded the efforts of the batting unit and expressed his confidence in his team, saying that they will be back soon. He also backed young pacer Kwena Maphaka, who didn’t have a great outing on his debut. He explained:

“If the ball goes this many times into the crowd, you will need time to get the overs done. Everyone (the batters) looked good and it is just a matter of time before we put things right. He (Kwena Maphaka) was fantastic, coming into his first game and getting overwhelmed, he was alright and backed his skillset, just needs some game time.”

Mumbai Indians will be next seen in action when they take on Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium on 1st April.