The pressure mounted on Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya as his team, the five-time champions, continued their tradition of starting slow by losing their third consecutive match in the Indian Premier League on Monday, April 1. Mumbai suffered a defeat at the hands of Rajasthan at the Wankhede Stadium, losing their first home game of the season by 6 wickets.
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Rajasthan successfully chased down a modest total of 126 runs, handling the initial threat from bowler Jasprit Bumrah and achieving their target comfortably in 15.3 overs. Despite Mumbai’s efforts to extend the game, they couldn’t hold on due to a mature innings from Riyan Parag. Parag, who had struggled in the past, showcased his talent by scoring an unbeaten 54 runs off just 39 balls.
With this victory, Rajasthan climbed to the top of the IPL 2024 points table, pushing Kolkata down to second place, while Mumbai found themselves at the bottom without a single win in the season so far.
Parag took advantage of loose deliveries and played sensibly against the strong bowling attack led by Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee. His unbeaten 54 runs marked his second consecutive half-century. Rajasthan’s win marked their third straight victory in the ongoing tournament, securing their position at the top of the table with three wins out of three matches.
Hardik Pandya GETS BOOED AGAIN
The Mumbai captain faced insults during MI’s first match against Gujarat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The same thing happened in the second match against Hyderabad when Mumbai lost to Pat Cummins’ team. One might have expected support from the crowd in his home stadium, but that didn’t happen.
During the game at the Wankhede Stadium, some of the crowd booed Hardik, which led broadcaster Sanjay Manjrekar to urge them to ‘behave’. Even when MI was losing to Rajasthan, the crowd kept chanting ‘Rohit, Rohit’ loudly.
NO BOWLING FOR HARDIK PANDYA
The Mumbai captain faced a lot of criticism for batting too low in the order in the first match against Gujarat. Then, in the next match against Hyderabad, he was criticized again for opening the bowling, which was a surprising move.
To address these criticisms, Hardik Pandya changed things up. He batted earlier against Rajasthan and refrained from bowling in the second innings. Despite his efforts with the bat, Mumbai struggled against excellent bowling from Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult.
RIYAN PARAG, CHAHAL SHINE
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It looks like both of these players are making a strong comeback, especially right before the T20 World Cup. Parag, who didn’t make much of an impact in the past seasons for Rajasthan, seems determined to turn things around. He scored a half-century in the match and took the Orange Cap from Virat Kohli. Parag played patiently, handling the good balls from Mumbai’s bowlers and helping his team secure their third win of the season.
On the other hand, the leg spinner picked up 2 wickets in the match, bringing his total to 6 wickets from three matches. Chahal, who hasn’t been in the Indian team lately, is showing some great performances with the ball. Currently, his economy rate stands at 5.50, which is better than his teammates this season. Whether he’ll be selected for the T20 World Cup squad remains to be seen, only the BCCI knows.
MI vs RR: AS IT HAPPENED
Rajasthan Royals showed an impressive bowling performance in the first innings of the match against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. Trent Boult and Nandre Burger caused trouble for Mumbai’s top-order batsmen, with Boult notably dismissing three Mumbai players for Golden Ducks on Monday, April 1.
During the powerplay, Boult and Burger dominated, and then Yuzvendra Chahal and Avesh Khan continued to keep Mumbai in check during the middle overs. Despite a short partnership of 56 runs in 36 balls, Chahal managed to break through and dismiss both batsmen. Rajasthan kept the pressure on Tim David, understanding that the game wasn’t over until the end.
Unfortunately for Mumbai, Australian lower-order batsman Tim David struggled, scoring only 17 runs off 24 balls. As a result, Mumbai could only manage a total of 125 runs for the loss of 9 wickets, the lowest score by any team so far in the IPL 2024 season.
This total wasn’t enough to defend against Rajasthan in a high-scoring match at Wankhede Stadium, and Mumbai eventually lost the match by the 16th over.
With this loss, Mumbai became the second team to lose their home game in the tournament, following RCB, who were the first and only team to lose a home game this season.