Gujarat Titans (GT) secured a commanding 36-run victory over Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ninth match of IPL 2025 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday (March 29). Despite restricting GT to 196/8 after electing to bowl first, MI’s star-studded batting lineup, including Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Hardik Pandya, failed to chase down the target of 197 runs.
This defeat marked MI’s second consecutive loss of the season, leaving the five-time champions with zero points from two matches and placing them at No. 9 on the points table.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya was visibly disappointed after the defeat and admitted during the post-match presentation that his team’s basic fielding mistakes cost them the game.
“Tough to put it together; I think in batting and bowling we were 15-20 runs short in both places. We were not professional in the field; we made basic errors, and that cost us 20-25 runs, and in a T20 game, that is quite a lot,” Hardik said.
Hardik also lauded GT openers Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill for their remarkable batting performance. “They (GT openers) batted brilliantly, only a couple of deliveries here and there. They were quite exceptional; they didn’t take many chances, they did the right stuff, and they were able to get runs without playing many risky shots. We were doing catch-up since then,” Hardik added.
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When asked about MI’s performance so far in IPL 2025, Hardik remained hopeful and stressed the need for MI batters to take responsibility in the upcoming games.
“At the moment we all need to take responsibility; it’s still early stages. Batters have to come to the party; hopefully, they do that soon. On this wicket, they (slower deliveries) were the toughest balls; some were shooting, and some were bouncing. As batters, it becomes difficult. They (GT bowlers) did what I did with the ball.”
MI will aim to bounce back when they take the field again on Monday (March 31). The Mumbai-based franchise is set to host defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for their third league stage match.
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