Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a narrow 6-run defeat in their opening match of the IPL 2024 season against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on Sunday (March 24).
Chasing 169 to win, the five-time champions were cruising when Rohit Sharma (43) and Dewald Brevis (46) were batting together.
However, their dismissals in quick succession triggered a collapse and MI’s innings was eventually restricted to 162/9 in 20 overs.
After the game, MI’s new skipper Hardik Pandya took the close defeat on the chin, saying it was "not an issue" as there are 13 matches to go.
Pandya was also not harsh on young batter Tilak Varma, who declined a single at a crucial juncture when batting alongside Tim David.
"Obviously we back ourselves to chase those 42 runs (in the last five overs) but it was one of those days where we see the score quite less in those last five overs, we lost a bit of momentum there," Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
"It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well."
When asked about Tilak refusal to run a single, the captain said, "I think Tilak felt that was a better idea at that point of time. I completely back him. Not an issue, (we have) 13 games to go."
On the other hand, GT skipper Shubman Gill was full of praise for his bowlers, especially spinners R Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan, who performed exceptionally well despite the dew setting in at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
"I think the way the boys held their nerves, and the way we bowled in the death overs, especially with the dew coming in, I thought it was special.
"With the dew, how the spinners bowled, they made sure we stayed in the game. It was all about putting on the pressure," said Gill.
Hardik Pandya invited GT to bat first after winning the toss keeping the dew factor in mind.
Gill added, "We just wanted them to feel under pressure. The plan was to keep building the pressure and wait for them to make a mistake."
(With PTI Inputs)
