Hardik Pandya Injured, Expected to Return vs KKR: Shardul Thakur

With Hardik missing since the clash against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Suryakumar Yadav sitting out from the PBKS clash after the birth of his child, Jasprit Bumrah led the five-time champions for the first time and what an outing it was for MI, with Shardul's four-fer and Tilak Varma's ice-cold being the brightest part of MI's fourth win of the season.

Speaking after the match in the post-match presser, Shardul said, "Hardik is injured, so he could not travel for a couple of games. He went to Raipur [for the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on May 10], but could not play. He is training in Mumbai now, and I expect him to be back in Kolkata and play against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) next Wednesday. Players like them, we always miss the quality."

On the chatter about Hardik being traded to another franchise, Shardul rubbished it, saying that "chatter always keeps going on social media.

Hardik has had a mediocre season as a captain and player. Not only his team is sitting in the bottom half of the table despite its star power, he has also made just 146 runs in eight innings at an average of 20.85, with a strike rate of over 136 and a best score of 40. He has also taken just four wickets at an average of 61.50, with an economy rate of almost 12.

He also hailed Tilak Varma's knock of 75* in 33, which guided MI to a win, saying, "Tilak selected his areas and selected his balls to hit the shots really well. (Ryan) Rickelton also supported Tilak with his big hits."

The all-rounder also said that "there were too many ups and downs during the match.

"In the powerplay we started really well but the backend of the powerplay and the start of the middle overs, there were a few runs flowing. We were able to pull them back then after that. And then there were some runs scored in the death overs," he said.

"Same with our batting, we had a good start in the power play, then we struggled, and then we picked up pace. The tempo was constantly changing. As bowlers, it is very difficult to keep coming back because suddenly there is a shift in tempo, and you have to think about what your shut down options are. Then suddenly when one or two wickets fall, you are looking for wickets."

"There were too many switches in the game. Bowlers had to shift their mindset quite a lot. For batters, it was a patience game where they wait for loose deliveries and then try and convert," he continued.

MI said that they ended up giving 20 runs more runs than they intended to. Speaking on having played under Rohit Sharma, Hardik and now Bumrah, Shardul said that they are all different to rate as captains.

"Different to rate, because all of them have different ideas. There is no particular mantra in cricket that will give you success. As a player and a captain, you need to be proactive. As players, we make a captain successful. As players, there were games we did well, and some games where we fell short. They all bring a lot of experience and have been match-winners for this side and Team India," he said.

Coming to the match, MI opted to bowl first. A 50-run stand between Priyansh Arya (22 in 17 balls, with four boundaries) and Prabhsimran Singh started off things well for PBKS. Prabhsimran had some struggles with his tempo, but managed to score 57 in 32 balls, with six fours and four sixes and put on a 57-run stand with Cooper Connolly (21). From 107/1, PBKS collapsed to 140/7.

Cameos from Azmatullah Omarzai (38 in 17 balls, with two fours and four sixes), Vishnu Vinod (15*), and Xavier Bartlett (18*) took PBKS to a competitive 200/8 in 20 overs. Shardul Thakur (4/39) and Deepak Chahar (2/36) were the pick of the bowlers for MI.

During the run-chase, Ryan Rickelton (48 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) and Rohit Sharma (25 in 26 balls, with two sixes put on a 61-run stand. But PBKS lost wickets at regular intervals after that, and at 149/4 in the 17th over, the match looked balanced. Tilak (75* in 33 balls, with six fours and six sixes) and Will Jacks (25* in 10 balls, with two fours and two sixes) put on an explosive 56-run stand, chasing down the target with a ball left.

Omarzai (2/36 in four overs), Yuzi Chahal (1/32 in four overs) and Arshdeep Singh (0/29 in four overs) bowled well for PBKS, but other than that, their foreign quicks, Marco Jansen (1/55) and Xavier Bartlett (0/53) continued to leak runs.

MI is at the eighth spot in the points table, with four wins and eight losses, giving them eight points. PBKS stays in the top four with six wins, five losses and a no result, giving them 13 points. If Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday, they would be out of the top four.

- ANI