After the defeat against KKR, Hardik Pandya said – “If I or Tilak had won by staying on…

Kolkata. Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted after the defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) that his team could score around 20 runs less. Hardik believes that if he or Tilak Verma had stayed at the crease for a little longer, Mumbai would have had a good chance of winning the match.

Mumbai Indians team had lost 4 wickets for 46 runs in the powerplay itself. Six of the team’s eight partnerships in the entire innings were less than 20 runs. Mumbai scored 147 runs, which KKR achieved with seven balls to spare.

After the match, Hardik Pandya said, “We were left behind by about 20 runs. We had lost a lot of wickets in the powerplay. If Tilak Verma or I had batted for a little longer and had one or two good partnerships, we could have got an additional 15-20 runs. Then we would have had a good chance of winning the match.”

Both Hardik and Tilak were seen batting slowly in the middle overs. Hardik scored 26 runs in 27 balls, while Tilak Verma scored 20 runs in 32 balls. This was one of the worst strike rates in IPL history in innings when the No. 5 and 6 batsmen played at least 20 balls each.

Regarding the Kolkata pitch, Hardik said that he likes to play on such a wicket where the bowlers also get help.

He said, “I have no problem playing on such a wicket where the bowlers get some help. IPL has become very batsman-friendly now and the bowlers feel helpless. On today’s wicket, the bowlers got help, due to which the batsmen also had to play good cricket and score runs. I like such a challenge.”

However, despite the low score, Mumbai team could have made a comeback in the match. KKR’s score was 3 wickets for 73 runs in nine overs, but after this Mumbai dropped two easy catches. Taking advantage of this, Rovman Powell and Manish Pandey made a match-winning partnership of 64 runs.

Expressing his displeasure over the fielding mistakes, Hardik said, “I don’t know what is going wrong in the fielding. Our fielding has been very bad throughout the season. We have dropped a lot of catches. If you want to win the match, it is important to grab every opportunity, even half chances. But when you drop catches which can change the match, then you are always behind in the competition.”