Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya was left disappointed after losing the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the current Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match at the historic Wankhede Stadium on Monday. Rajat-captained RCB keeps going against the narrative and breaking strongholds as after winning over five-time Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk after 17 years, they have now won over five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede for the first time in 10 overs, overcoming a terrifying Tilak Varma and skipper Hardik Pandya association that threatened to run down 222 runs set by RCB.

Hardik Pandya Reflects on MI’s Narrow Loss

“It was a run-fest. The wicket was really good. I was just talking about that to myself that again we fell short with two hits. I don’t have much to say. (Was 221 par or above-par?) The way the wicket was, the bowers didn’t really have much place to hide. It came down to execution. You can stop the batters, but I don’t want to be harsh on the bowlers. It was a tough track; we did not have many options. (No. 3 position) The original skeleton of our team, Naman, was always batting down the order,” Hardik Pandya in the post-match presentation.

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Rohit Sharma Returns as Impact Player

Rohit Sharma featured in the first three matches for the five-time winners in the IPL 2025, making 13 (against Chennai Super Kings), 8 (against Gujarat Titans), and 0 (against Kolkata Knight Riders) respectively before sitting out the franchise’s last match, which was played against Lucknow Sper Giants (LSG) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Short Cameo from Rohit in Comeback Game

Having missed the previous game, Rohit featured in the 20th match of the current 18th edition of the high-paying league as the impact player. Rohit emerged onto the field during the 15th over of the RCB’s innings. When making his innings opening in this match, he scored only 17 runs in mere nine balls, which was supported by two fours and a six and at an astonishing strike rate of 188.89.

Hardik Pandya on Tilak Varma’s Grit & Bumrah’s Return

Talking about Rohit, the all-rounder clarified, “It’s just that in the last game, Ro wasn’t available, so we had to push someone up, and someone like him has the multi-dimensional game where he can come up as well and can play in the death as well. Once Ro was back, we knew that Naman would have to come down. Tilak was fantastic. Last game, a lot of things happened. People said a lot of things about it but people don’t know that he had a very nasty hit the previous day. It was a tactical call, but because of the finger that he had, the coach just felt that it was a better option for someone fresh to come and do it. Today, he was fantastic. In this sort of game, powerplays are very crucial. We were not able to get in the middle, and that put us back in the chase. It comes down to execution in the death we were not able to play those balls.”

Ultimately, the 31-year-old bowler commented on right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who was playing his initial game of the IPL 2025. He took no wickets in his four overs while conceding 29 runs at an economy of 7.20.

“Having him (Bumrah) makes any team in the world very special. He came in and did his job; we were very happy to have him. In life, never back down, and always see the positive side of it. Go out there, try to play the best cricket of your life and back yourself. We are all backing them, just hope for the result to come our way,” Hardik Pandya concluded.