Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Monday urged his team to show a bit more "discipline" and "courage" to turn things around after suffering a third successive loss in the IPL 2024. Asked to bat, MI were left tottering at 20 for 4 in the fourth over and they just couldn't recover from the disastrous start, managing only 125 for nine in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, Rajasthan Royals overhauled the target with 27 balls to spare for a six-wicket win. "We didn't start the way we wanted to, tough night tonight," Hardik told the broadcasters after the match.
"Results, sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't. I don't think much surprises me anymore. But as a group we believe we can pull off a lot of better things going forward and we just need to be more disciplined and show more courage."
It was Hardik's 21-ball 34 which pushed MI's total. But things went downhill after he was sent back by Yuzvendra Chahal.
"I think we were in a decent position to give us a chance to get to 150 or 160 but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game, I needed to do a lot more," he said.
The bowlers had a good day in office with Chahal (3/11) and Trent Boult (3/22) setting up the win for RR.
"It's good to have something for the bowlers as well. The game is quite cruel to the bowlers. But it was unexpected. It's all about doing the right things," Hardik said.
RR skipper Sanju Samson said the toss played a crucial role in deciding the fate of the match.
"(The toss) I think that was the gamechanger. The toss was very crucial. I felt it was too sticky to start off and we had the experience of Trent Boult and Nandre Burger's speed," Samson said.
"(Boult) has been playing international cricket for so long and we expected him to deliver. I didn't expect four or five wickets down, but it was great.
"We all do our roles and move on. Someone like R Ashwin knew we had a good powerplay so he didn't go for wickets, just kept it tight. So it's about teamwork." Chasing 126 for a win, RR were reduced to 48 for three in the seventh over but Riyan Parag blasted a 39-ball 54 not out, his second successive fifty this season, to take the team home.
"Actually, I've simplified everything instead of trying to do a lot of things. Earlier when I wasn't getting runs I would try a lot of different things. This year, it's just seeing the ball and hitting the ball," Parag said.
"When I play domestically this is the exact kind of situations I go into bat. When Jos (Jos Buttler) bhai and Ash (R Ashwin) bhai got out, I thought to myself this is what I do in domestic cricket. So that's what I calculated.
On the difference between domestic cricket and IPL, Parag said: "I have had three-four years of not performing at all. And you really go back to the hotel room and think when you know you can do it and the results are not coming, you go back to the drawing room.
"I realised I wasn't practicing at this kind of level so I went and did that." Boult was awarded the Player of the Match for his three wickets in the powerplay with two of them -- Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir -- coming in the first over itself.
"Never say it's a certainty in the format, but it was nice to get the wickets. We created early pressure, nice to take some wickets and glad the result went our way," he said.
Boult also termed South Africa's Nandre Burger a "great find".
"Bowls with great skill and plays with his heart on his sleeves. Sandeep obviously missed out but he'll play a big role in the season. Excited to be part of this bowling attack."
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