Follow UsMumbai Indians succumbed to yet another loss, their fourth in five matches, after they were defeated by 12 runs in a tightly contested high-scoring thriller against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 7 (Monday) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, changed his stance on the controversy regarding retiring out Tilak Varma in MI’s contest against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 4.
In that game, after Mumbai fell short by 12 runs in that game too, Hardik had said that Varma was retired after the end of the penultimate over of the chase because of his inability to hit boundaries.
Tonight, after yet another loss, in which Varma top-scored with 56 off just 29 balls, Hardik said, “Tilak was fantastic. A lot of things happened in the last game, people made a lot of things. They did not know he had a nasty hit the previous day. Because of the finger he had, the coach felt it was a better option if someone fresh could come in (and do it). But today he was fantastic.”
The skipper also pointed out the slow batting of Will Jacks (18-ball 22) and Suryakumar Yadav (26-ball 28) in the middle overs that put a lot of pressure on the finishers.
“In this sort of game, powerplays are crucial. Couple of overs, we were not able to get (enough runs) in the middle and that pushed us back,” he said.
Rajat Patidar, the RCB captain, who was also the Player Of The Match, was happy with the way his bowlers kept their calm and won the match despite it going down to the wire.
“The way the bowlers have shown their courage, it was amazing to watch. This award goes to the bowling unit. It is not easy to stop any team, especially at this ground, and the way they have done it, was incredible,” he said.