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Hardik Pandya, captain of the Mumbai Indians, said the team fell short collectively of the standards the franchise represents, after their six-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) despite scoring 243 in the first innings in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians, on the back of a powerful 55-ball unbeaten 123-run knock off the bat of Ryan Rickelton, scored 243/5 in 20 overs after electing to bat first. However, SRH, with the help of Travis Head (76 off 30 balls), Heinrich Klaasen (65* off 30 balls), Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24 balls) and Salil Arora (30* off 10 balls) chased down the massive total with eight balls remaining. The loss came as the sixth defeat in eight matches of the IPL 2026 so far. After the match, Hardik Pandya admitted the team hasn't performed to the standards of the Mumbai Indians, stressing the need to identify areas for improvement while remaining confident that the team will find solutions with the support of its management and staff. "I think as an overall unit, we have not been able to do what exactly the Mumbai Indians stand for. We really need to see what all we need to work on, and it's fine. I think we have passionate owners, we have passionate support staff. We always figure out something," Pandya said at the post-match presentations. MI bowlers received some beating at the hands of SRH batters as none of them went for anything less than 10 runs per over. Notably, the ever-reliable Jasprit Bumrah registered figures of 0/54 in 4 overs. Pandya admitted the bowlers failed to execute despite a strong total, acknowledging that while SRH played well, MI also delivered poor balls. He backed his bowlers, refusing to blame them, and said missed chances have hurt the team in a tough season. Notably, MI's Naman Dhir dropped the catch of Travis Head when the batter was playing on 2 off 4 balls. "They played some good shots, and we bowled bad balls. I enjoyed and had fun on the ground today. 244 - I will back my bowlers to stop it. But we could not execute. Enjoyed bowling, barring the last three balls, but enjoyed myself. Been that kind of a season. You get chances, you grab them. If you don't, it hurts you. This season, we don't have many options. I won't put my bowlers under the bus," Pandya said. With the loss, MI find themselves languishing in ninth place in the IPL points table, while SRH are third with 12 points from nine matches. (ANI)
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