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India Test skipper Shubman Gill put an end to speculation of any tension between him and all-rounder Hardik Pandya during the Eliminator in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday.
There were rumours circulated on social media that GT skipper Gill didn't shake hands with Hardik during the time of the toss at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. Gill silenced the critics as he took to Instagram and wrote, "Nothing but love (Don't believe everything you see on the internet) @hardikpandya95." Chasing a mammoth total of 229 in the Eliminator, Gill was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just 1 run, whereas Hardik played a quickfire knock of 22 runs from just nine balls, which was laced with three maximums in his innings which came at a whopping strike rate of 244.44. Recapping the match, a brilliant half-century by Sai Sudharsan and his partnership with Washington Sundar went in vain as fine death bowling effort from the five-time champions helped the Blue and Gold franchise eliminate the 2022 champions from the competition with a 20-run win at Mullanpur. With this win, MI will now play Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad on June 1 for a spot in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on June 3. MI won the toss and elected to bat first. They started off with a bang, with Jonny Bairstow (47 in 22 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and Rohit Sharma taking on pacers really well. Rohit went on to score his third fifty in IPL knockouts, making 81 in just 50 balls, with nine fours and four sixes. He also completed his 7,000 IPL runs, becoming the second batter to do so. Fine cameos from Suryakumar Yadav (33 in 20 balls, with a four and three sixes), Tilak Varma (25 in 11 balls, with three sixes) and Hardik Pandya (22* in nine balls, with three sixes) took MI to 228/5. Sai Kishore (2/42) and Prasidh Krishna (2/53) were the top bowlers for GT. In the run chase, GT lost skipper Shubman Gill early. However, Sai Sudharsan (80 in 49 balls, with 10 fours and a six) stitched half-century partnerships with Kusal Mendis (20 in 10 balls, with a four and two sixes) and Washington Sundar (48 in 24 balls, with five fours and three sixes), keeping GT ahead of the required rate. However, some fine death bowling prevented them from winning as MI restricted GT to 208/6 in 20 overs. Trent Boult (2/56) was the top bowler for MI. Jasprit Bumrah, Richard Gleeson, Ashwani Kumar and Mitchell Santner got one each. Rohit Sharma was awarded Player of the Match for his exceptional batting performance. (ANI)
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