Hardik Pandya Pinpoints His 'Bowling, Captaincy' Brilliance Against SRH
Hardik Pandya, who has often been criticised for his decision-making in the IPL 2024 season, explained how he got his tactics right against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Following his side's seven wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya lauded batter Suryakumar Yadav for putting bowlers under pressure with his counter-attacking ton after a quick loss of wickets at the start. From three wickets down in a chase of 174 runs, a long overdue Suryakumar special came to MI's rescue as the centurion's 143-run partnership for the fourth wicket guided MI to their fourth win of the season against SRH at Wankhede Stadium.
Speaking at the post match presentation, Hardik said, "It is unbelievable, the best part of Suryakumar is that he puts the bowlers under pressure. It is sheer confidence, his game has changed, is one of the best batters. He can change a game in a different way, lucky to have him (SKY) in our side."
"We want to focus on playing good cricket, still think we gave 10-15 runs extra. The way our batters batted, that was excellent. My bowling, I like to bowl in the right areas, I bowl according to the situation. Bowled in the right areas today and it worked."
On Piyush Chawla's three-fer, Pandya said, "I was like Piyush Chawla had to bowl from the shorter side. He (Chawla) had to be accurate, the margin of errors have become smaller these days for the bowlers."
Coming to the match, MI won the toss and elected to field first. SRH lost wickets at regular intervals from the beginning and it was knocks from Travis Head (48 in 30 balls, with seven fours and a six) and skipper Pat Cummins (35* in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes) that took SRH to 173/8 in their 20 overs.
In the run chase, MI lost their top order early and was reeling at 31/3. It was then that Suryakumar (102* in 51 balls with 12 fours and six sixes) and Tilak Varma (37* in 32 balls, with six fours) launched a counter attack which guided MI to a win with 16 balls left.
Suryakumar took home the 'Player of the Match' honour.
MI is at the ninth spot with four wins and eight losses, giving them eight points. SRH is at fourth with six wins, five losses and 12 points.
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Mumbai Indians
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Hardik Pandya