Hardik Pandya’s Painful Admission Post-GT Thriller: ‘It Was a Crime’

Hardik Pandya expressed his disappointment, saying that the no-balls he and his teammates bowled were a ‘crime’. This assessment came after MI’s defeat against GT on Wednesday.

Mumbai Indians suffered a disheartening three-wicket defeat against Gujarat Titans in a rain-interrupted game. In a pivotal match, with playoffs hanging in the balance, it was the no-balls that took the match away from MI. Pandya bowled two no-balls, while Deepak Chahar’s no-ball came in the final over.

“It is a crime,” Pandya said bluntly when addressing the repeated overstepping from his side.

“Catches did not really cost us, but the no-balls, with my no-balls and even in the last no-ball, in my eyes in T20s, it is a crime, and more often than not, it bites you. But I am really happy with the boys for giving their 120 per cent, ensuring we were in the game and not giving up.”

Mumbai’s Gut-Wrenching Defeat

Despite Mumbai’s top order failure, Will Jacks (53), Suryakumar Yadav (35), and Corbin Bosch (27) managed to take MI to the total of 155/8. MI’s bowlers tried their best to defend this total. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult led the bowling attack and took out Shubman Gill, Shahrukh Khan, and Sherfane Rutherford.

With a penalty for slow overs, MI had only four fielders outside the circle during the final over. Deepak Chahar was handed the death-over responsibility, however, he cracked under pressure. He conceded a boundary and a six, leaving only 5 runs to be chased in 3 balls. He then bowled a no-ball that benefited GT.

Moreover, Hardik also stepped over the line twice during the 8th over. Along with the no-balls, they also dropped an important catch of GT’s captain, Shubhman Gill.

Pandya On The Loss

Reflecting on the game, Pandya admitted MI were always short on runs. “Yes, definitely (tough way to go down). We fought well with the total we had. Most of the time, we were out of the game, but we pushed as a group. It was a game of margins.”

“It was definitely not a 150-wicket. It was a 175-wicket, we were short in batting by 20-25 or maybe 30 runs if we had batted well. Credit to the bowlers. They kept fighting, and we could not finish the job,” he added.

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