Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya did not hold back after his team’s disappointing loss to Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025, criticizing their overall performance. He emphasized the need for every player to take responsibility, stating that MI must step up before their campaign reaches a breaking point.
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In a sharp rebuke of his team, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya asked the whole team, especially the batters to “take responsibility” after the franchise suffered its second consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. MI began their campaign with a four-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings and on Saturday
suffered a massive 36-run defeat to Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Shubman Gill’s GT posted 196/8 batting first before restricting Pandya’s Mumbai to just 160/6 on a slow track. Former Mumbai Indians captain
Rohit Sharma scored just eight runs and was part of a batting line-up that struggled against slower deliveries.
Hardik Pandya slams MI team for overall poor cricket
Only Tilak Varma (39 0ff 36) and Suryakumar Yadav (48 off 28) looked fluent in a laborious chase. In his assessment, Pandya complained of poor cricket in all departments from his side.
“Tough to put it together, I think in batting and bowling we were 15-20 runs short in both places. We were not professionals in the field, we made basic errors, and that cost us 20-25 runs and in a T20 game, that is quite a lot. They (GT openers) batted brilliantly. They were quite exceptional; they did not take many chances, they did the right stuff, and they were able to get runs without playing many risky shots. We have been doing catch-up since then,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Hardik urged his team members to step up before their IPL 2025 campaign reaches a point of no return.
“At the moment, we all need to take responsibility; it is still the early stages. Batters have to come to the party, hopefully, they will do that soon. On this wicket, they (slower deliveries) were the toughest balls, some were shooting, and some were bouncing, as batters it becomes difficult. They (GT bowlers) did what I did with the ball.”
Mumbai Indians players will have little time to recover from the latest setback as their next match is against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday.