Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a seven-wicket defeat in their last league fixture of the IPL 2025 season against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Sunday (May 26).
Asked to bat first, the five-time champions posted 184/7 on the board, courtesy of Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century (57 off 39).
In reply, PBKS rode on majestic fifties from Priyansh Arya (62 off35) and Josh Inglis (73 off 42) to get over the line with nine deliveries to spare.
After the loss, MI skipper Hardik Pandya acknowledged that they were 20 runs short, considering the way pitch behaved.
“The way wicket played, we were 20 runs short. That happens. We’ve been playing really good cricket, but we couldn’t play our best cricket, which cost us a lot. IPL is like that. This franchise has won five trophies, and it has always been tough,” Hardik said in the post-match presentation.
“We could have capitalised either at the start or in the middle, we’ll figure it out. I back Ashwani, and we back Ashwani. That has been the plan throughout the season. We have played with the leggie and the quick. Today, on this wicket, we felt that it’ll work, that’s fine.”
Pandya mentioned that the batting conditions likely remained consistent throughout the match. He praised the PBKS batters, particularly highlighting their second-wicket partnership and ability to capitalise on any bowling errors.
“(Did batting get better in the second half?) It would be the same, I don’t think much difference. They really played good cricket; the second wicket stand was outstanding for those two batters. They took on certain balls whenever we erred, and I don’t think as a bowling unit we were clinical, we gave some balls which they capitalised, and at certain times, they played some good shots as well,” he added.
Mumbai Indians will now have to play the Eliminator clash to stay in the race for the IPL 2025 final.
Looking ahead on the Eliminator, Hardik said, “Overall, play good cricket, bat well, bowl well, work on the plans, see what is the template which will work as a batting group. Bowlers have been doing really well throughout the season. Batting, we'll figure out what is the right template on right tracks and if we bat first, what is the pace we want to bat. Couple of things which we need to identify, but I don't think much panic. We knew what was at stake. Looking forward for the Eliminator.”
