April 02 (Punjab Khabarnama) : There were claims on social media, by spectators themselves, that the boos for Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday were louder than the treatment he received in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. But it was probably the harshest or most brutal when he erred on a dropping Jos Buttler during Rajasthan Royals’ successful chase of 126.
It happened in the fourth over of Rajasthan’s batting, when Jasprit Bumrah was into his second over. The India fast bowler delivered a fuller ball outside off as Buttler drilled the drive towards the left of mid-off. Hardik, who was stationed there, was quick to dive to his left and got both hands on it, but he was never in control as the ball popped out.
Hardik was left in absolute disbelief as he had his hand over his head after collecting the ball. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians dugout was left shocked watching the proceedings. But what followed was a brutal treatment from the Wankhede crowd, who jeered at the MI skipper with probably the loudest boos during the match. Hardik sheepishly smiled on, but Tim David quickly ran up to him to give him the confidence.
Buttler, who was batting on 10 at the time of the dropped catch, failed to make any difference on being handed the lifeline as Akash Madhwal dismissed him in the over after the powerplay.
Mumbai did strike at regular intervals in the match to keep themselves alive in defending the paltry total. But Riyan Parag’s valiant half-century knock, en route to an unbeaten 54 off 39, was enough to guide the visitors to a six-wicket win in Wankhede.
While the third-consecutive win in IPL 2024 sent Rajasthan to the top of the points table, a third straight loss since the start of the season saw Mumbai languish to the bottom of the table.
Following the loss, Hardik urged his MI side to show more “courage and discipline” in a bid to turn their fate around in IPL 2024.
“It’s all about doing the right things, (correct) results happen at times, at some other times it doesn’t. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage,” he said.
