Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a 27-run defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 13th match of the IPL 2026 season at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Tuesday (April 7).

The match was a rain-hit, 11-over-a-side contest where RR posted a formidable total of 150/3, with the opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal (77* off 32) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (39 off 14) scoring 59 runs in the 3.2-over powerplay.

In response, MI's star batters like Rohit Sharma (5), Suryakumar Yadav (6) and Tilak Varma (14) failed to deliver, and they managed 123/9.

Speaking during the post-match presentation, MI skipper Hardik Pandya refused to blame the batting unit for the defeat, attributing the loss solely to the bowlers.

“I think we didn't execute the deliveries which we were supposed to and they played well. Our bowlers need to take the responsibility. As a bowling group, we were not at all up to the mark and they played tremendous cricket,” Hardik said.

“(Needed a better batting approach?) I would not put this game on the batting. This was definitely the bowling unit which had to take responsibility. It's T20 cricket, it's about always bowling those right couple of balls. And if you see 27, that means we are talking about five good balls and five less sixes. So if we would have executed the right balls, yeah, we would have been in the game. But as I said, their openers kind of enforced couple of overs, threw us out of the game. Then throughout we were catching up and yeah, we fell short,” he added.

Pandya was left in awe after Sooryavanshi dismantled their bowling attack in the early overs. The teenage sensation famously took on veteran pacer Jasprit Bumrah, hitting him for a six off the very first ball he faced from him.

“It's quite fascinating to see a 17 or a 16-year-old boy and playing the way he played. At the same point of time, discussing so much about him in the preparation leading up to the game. So yeah, amazing to see the way he bats, the kind of fearlessness he has, the kind of shots he has. I wish him absolute good luck in the future,” the captain remarked.

Mumbai Indians next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a blockbuster clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 12).

“(On the next game vs RCB) Just learn from the mistakes. The morning will come tomorrow, the sun will rise. So yeah, just learn from our mistakes and prepare well for the next game,” Hardik concluded.