Mumbai Indians’ difficult season continued to spiral as they suffered yet another defeat, this time against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. Already eliminated from the playoff race before the contest, MI were playing only for pride, but their performance once again reflected the inconsistency that has defined their campaign this season.
In contrast, KKR kept their playoff hopes alive with a commanding and clinical display, showing no signs of easing up in a must-win situation. Their bowling unit set the tone early, restricting the star-studded MI batting line-up to a modest 147 for 8 on a sluggish surface. Despite MI striking early with the ball and removing KKR’s openers cheaply, the chase was never truly in danger. Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell then stitched together a crucial 64-run partnership that steadied the innings, but MI tried to bounce back with a couple of wickets, but in the end, the target wasn’t big enough as KKR won the match by four wickets with seven balls to spare.
Hardik Pandya offered a frank assessment of Mumbai Indians’ batting display after their latest defeat, acknowledging that the team fell short with the bat and failed to capitalise on key moments during the innings
“Definitely as a batting group, we were 20 short. I think we lost a lot of wickets in the power play, but if Tilak or I would have stayed longer and we would have stitched a couple of more partnerships and got those 15, 20 runs, I think we would have had a decent chance,” Hardik said after the match.
Pandya didn’t mince words while assessing his team’s fielding standards this season, pointing out that dropped chances have consistently hurt the team’s chances in crucial moments.
“I think throughout the season we’ve been quite poor in fielding. We have dropped a lot of catches, which obviously no one wants to do. In that part of the game, there is no hiding away. If you get chances and want to win games, you need to grab all the chances, even half chances as well. But when you drop chances which can actually change the game, you are always chasing the game,” he added.
“IPL is becoming quite batting dominated.”
The MI skipper further reflected on a rare surface that offered assistance to bowlers and said he enjoyed the contest, acknowledging that modern T20 cricket has largely tilted in favour of batters. He noted that conditions like these bring bowlers into the game and force batters to earn their runs, making the contest more balanced and competitive.
“To be very honest, I don’t mind playing on this sort of wickets, you know, where bowlers have something to do. I think IPL is becoming quite batting dominated. Bowlers are feeling helpless. Today’s game kind of gave bowlers a lot from the wicket, which kind of makes them come and bowl some good balls, make batsmen play some good cricket and score runs. So yeah, I kind of enjoyed it,” he added.
