Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya celebrated in stone after dismissing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Marco Jansen in the 55th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. May 6th.
Hardik Pandya has underperformed since taking over as MI captaincy from Rohit Sharma in IPL 2024. The all-rounder decided to change that when he took the field to bowl against SRH. It looked like the all-rounder had finally found some rhythm and he delivered a magnificent performance against the former champions.
Hardik Pandya completed his 4-over quota and picked up three big wickets by giving away just 31 runs. He removed Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed and Marco Jansen to end his spell. During his four overs, Hardik bowled consistent lines and lengths and put the batters in trouble.
The biggest highlight of Hardik Pandya’s tenure was when he rattled the stumps of all-rounder Marco Jansen in the 16th over. On the 5th ball of the over, Hardik Pandya bowled a long ball to middle stump and Marco Jansen tried to pull it towards the boundary. The batsman failed to make contact with the ball and the ball came back sharply, shaking the stumps.
Marco Jansen made a long walk back to the dugout after scoring 17 runs off 12 balls, including 1 four and 1 six. Marco Jansen’s dismissal left SRH reeling at 124/7.
Watch: Hardik Pandya’s cold celebration after Marco Jansen’s dismissal
Clutch wicket, cold celebration 🥶#TATAIPL #MIvSRH #IPLonJioCinema #IPLinBhojpuri pic.twitter.com/6A8hG59KRr
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 6, 2024
In the end, Pat Cummins played a quick 35-run knock to take his team to a good total of 173/8, which was at least good enough to give the five-time champions a fight.
It’s about playing for pride, for the badge – Hardik Pandya
Ahead of the match, Hardik Pandya said that they will play with pride in the final games and will try to bring joy to the loyal fans of the franchise.
“We will bowl first. The wicket looks fresh. Maybe the new ball has something to offer and I want to take advantage of it. Anshul Kambhoj makes his debut. It’s all about playing for pride, playing for the badge. And for fans who have been with us through thick and thin.”
Notably, Mumbai Indians are currently ranked 10th in the Indian Premier League 2024 points table with 3 wins and 8 losses. A loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad would end their season and they would become the first team to be eliminated from the competition. If Mumbai Indians manage to win, they will retain their slim hopes of making it to the top four, but the chances of that happening are very slim.
After the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians will face Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, May 11th and Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, May 24th.