Hardik Pandya blames himself, calls his act a 'crime' after MI's last-ball defeat to GT: 'It bites you...'
Hardik Pandya called spade a spade in his post-match assessment following Mumbai Indians' narrow loss to Gujarat Titans on Wednesday.
Hardik Pandya minced no words after Mumbai Indians suffered a gut-wrenching three-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans in a rain-interrupted thriller at the Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2025. In a high-stakes match with playoff implications, it was Mumbai's no-ball offences – including two from Hardik himself – that tipped the scales. Deepak Chahar also bowled a no ball in the all-important final over, which helped ease GT's chase.
“It is a crime,” Pandya said bluntly when addressing the repeated overstepping from his side.
“Catches did not really cost us, but the no-balls, with my no-balls and even in the last no-ball, in my eyes in T20s, it is a crime and more often than not, it bites you. But I am really happy with the boys for giving their 120 per cent, ensuring we were in the game and not giving up.”
After managing just 155/8, despite a counter-attacking 53 from Will Jacks and handy contributions from Suryakumar Yadav (35) and Corbin Bosch (27), MI clawed their way back with the ball. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were outstanding, removing Shubman Gill, Shahrukh Khan, and Sherfane Rutherford to leave GT on the edge.
But a penalty for slow over rate meant MI had only four fielders outside the circle during the final over, where GT needed 15. Deepak Chahar, tasked with the death-over responsibility, cracked under pressure — conceding a four, a six, and then a fatal no-ball that handed the initiative to Gujarat.
Hardik, who overstepped twice himself during his spell, didn’t hold back on what cost them the match. Apart from the no-balls, a dropped catch of Gill by Tilak Varma in the 12th over proved costly too.
Hardik on the loss
Reflecting on the game, Pandya admitted MI were always short on runs. “Yes, definitely (tough way to go down). We fought well with the total we had. Most of the time, we were out of the game, but we pushed as a group. It was a game of margins.”
“It was definitely not a 150-wicket. It was a 175-wicket, we were short in batting by 20-25 or maybe 30 runs if we had batted well. Credit to the bowlers. They kept fighting, and we could not finish the job,” he added.
With heavy rain intervening multiple times, conditions weren’t ideal. “The ground, in the first innings, was not wet, but post that, throughout, the ball kept getting wetter. Not sure if it helped us or not, it was difficult. Rain kept coming in, not ideal to have stoppages and start again. But the game goes on, we had to play a game (in the end), and we definitely did,” Pandya concluded.
