Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admits that they “did not play quality cricket” in the IPL 2024 season and accepts that it made them to exit the tournament at an early stage.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, Mumbai Indians traded Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans and named him as the captain of the team for the 2024 season. Though Mumbai Indians and Hardik Pandya received massive criticism from the cricket experts and Rohit Sharma fans, the franchise stood strong in their decision.
Under Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians were expected to make an impressive performance in IPL 2024 but things went even worse than the last year.
Mumbai Indians managed to register only 4 victories in their 14 league games and become the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs race.
Moreover, Mumbai Indians are the only team to not reach a double-digit points tally this season. With only four victories, the five-time IPL title winners ended up at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table.
After being eliminated from the tournament, Mumbai was expected to make a consolation victory in their last league game but LSG scattered their dream and handed them an 18-run defeat on May 17.
Following a forgettable campaign in his first season as Mumbai Indians skipper, Hardik Pandya opens up on the reason behind Mumbai’s downfall this season.
“Quite difficult. Did not play good quality cricket, eventually costed us the whole season. It’s a professional world. Have to always come out and put our best foot forward. But yes, as a group we could not play quality cricket or smart cricket. Too early to point out what went wrong. The whole season kind of went wrong. We can pass this game as another one (that went wrong)”, Hardik said.
In addition to a defeat in his last game of the season, Hardik Pandya has been fined INR 30 Lakh and also handed a match ban for maintaining a slow overrate against LSG. As it was Hardik’s last game in IPL 2024, the ban will be imposed in his first match of the next season.
