"We Failed..." Heartbroken Hardik Pandya Blames Himself For MI's Crashout

Arnav Chopra

Hardik Pandya (Source: @IPL/X.com)Hardik Pandya (Source: @IPL/X.com)

It turned out to be a tough day for the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians side, as they crashed out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after losing to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2. Skipper Pandya spoke after the game and reflected on what went wrong during the thrilling encounter in Ahmedabad.

Hardik Pandya Accepts His Mistake After MI's Tough Loss

The Mumbai Indians side batted brilliantly to post 203 on the board after the end of the 20 overs with six wickets down, as the duo of Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav scored 44 each, powering Mumbai to a daunting total.

In reply, the Punjab Kings chased the total down with six balls and five wickets to spare, on the back of skipper Shreyas Iyer's fluent 87* off 41 deliveries, with five boundaries and eight sixes, as he struck runs at an outstanding strike rate of 212.20, helping Punjab to victory in a crucial, must-win encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Iyer's innings was so powerful that he didn't let any Mumbai bowlers settle and even took on the best with his fearless intent.

During the post-match presentation, Pandya, MI skipper Hardik Pandya, who was visibly shaken and heartbroken after the tough loss, spoke about what went wrong and how greatly it affected them.

"I think it was par. It required something great in terms of execution. In big games it really matters and as I mentioned, they were really really calm and put us under pressure. We failed to execute it,"

Pandya lauded Punjab for their ability to stay calm under pressure and then mentioned that his side failed to execute the desired plan.

Additionally, he then revealed that it was not because of the pitch that they lost, but because they didn't bowl in the right areas while adding that he could have done better as the captain of the side and took the onus upon himself for MI's defeat in Qualifier-2.

"I will not put it on the wicket. It was that we didn't bowl in the right lengths. I am someone who likes to take everything on myself. So, I think I could've done a bit better, managed my troops a little better and maybe the result would have been different,"

Bumrah's Off Day Didn't Help MI Either Feels Pandya

MI's top gun bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, had a rather off day on the field as he went for 40 runs in his four overs, with 20 of those coming in his very first over against Josh Inglis, who went after him and the right-arm pacer could never really recover.

Hardik touched on the topic of Bumrah's off day and hinted that he should have kept him for the last two overs instead of bowling him out in the 18th over. Further, he disclosed that it was something that didn't go according to plan and cost them big time, as the young Ashwani Kumar went for 26 runs in the 19th over, which took the game completely away from MI.

Pandya focused on the fact that Bumrah is an experienced bowler and could have done something better if it was his day, but unfortunately, it wasn't.

"Well, I felt that keeping Bumrah a bit back would've been the right choice as bowling him in the 17th over was too early according to me. Bumrah knowing the situation, he can do something special but it's just that it didn't happen today."

After this tough loss, MI will be hoping to come back stronger next season, whereas Punjab Kings have now set a date with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) side for the final of the IPL 2025 to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on the 3rd of June.