New Chandigarh: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya revealed his gameplan surrounding his star bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, who once again delivered a fine performance at the crucial moments and helped the five-time winners seal a 20-run win over Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL).
Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were effortlessly digging into the 229-run target until Bumrah’s re-introduction left the latter on the ground with a toe-crushing yorker that crashed into the stumps. His pivotal last over of the spell saw him concede only nine runs and steer MI towards victory. Mumbai will now take on Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in a few days.
Pandya jokingly compared Bumrah to the Mumbai Housing prices when asked how much he is worth to the team.
“At one point in time, the game was even-stevens. I thought the wicket got better in the second innings. The way Jonny started, for him to make our debut for us, the way Rohit batted. He took his time. When you see important games, all these margins help.
“(On Bumrah) It’s very simple: whenever you feel the game is going far [away], just get him. It’s like Mumbai housing prices – he’s that expensive! I just need to throw the ball. I just thought we could keep some extra runs at the end. It was important Jassi came and bowled that over, and the margin became bigger. It’s going to be very important to recover well,” said Pandya in the post-match interview.
While Bumrah led with the ball, it was former MI skipper Rohit Sharma who took charge with the bat and scored a 50-ball 81. After being dropped on two separate occasions, Rohit helped his team raise 228 in the first innings. Rohit acknowledged he got lucky, but claimed one still needs to play well to capitalize on the lifeline.
“I’ve got only four fifties; I think I would have liked to get more. I do understand the importance of playing the Eliminator. Again, a complete team performance. When I play, it’s trying to understand how I can play my best.
“Today, after having that luck going my way, I knew I had to make the most of it. I’m glad I could do that, and get the team into a good position. We knew it would be slightly challenging with the dew coming in. I’ve played all those shots in the game before, and unfortunately, I found fielders [today]. I got lucky; those catches got dropped. Even after the drop, you’ve got to play well,” said Rohit.
(IANS)
