Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted that his bowling side must raise its standards after a 27-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 on Tuesday. With RR openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi firing on all cylinders, the visitors struggled to keep the run-rate under control and were eventually knocked out of contention.
What happened in the match
- Rajasthan Royals got off to a ruthless start in the 11-over-a-side contest, with Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi putting the pressure on early.
- Jaiswal delivered the standout knock, finishing unbeaten on 77 as RR posted 150/3, a total that set a steep target.
- In reply, Mumbai Indians could only reach 123/9, falling short by 27 runs and losing for the second match in a row.
After the game, Pandya was firm that the loss should not be pinned on the batters. He insisted the key issue lay with MI’s bowling execution, arguing that in T20 cricket, games are often decided by a handful of crucial deliveries.
“I would not put this game on the batting. This was definitely the bowling unit which had to take responsibility. It’s T20 cricket; it’s always about bowling those couple of right balls. If you look at the 27-run margin, we are talking about five good balls and five fewer sixes. If we had executed the right deliveries, we would have been in the game,” Hardik said following the defeat.
He also pointed to how Rajasthan’s openers effectively removed MI’s ability to recover momentum. “But as I said, their openers threw us out of the game in the first couple of overs. After that, we were catching up throughout the innings and ultimately fell short,” Pandya added.
Bowling woes for MI
Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Chahar all had a tough outing, managing only one wicket collectively between them. Aside from Hardik, none of the bowlers kept their economy rate below 10, underlining the extent of Rajasthan’s dominance across the innings.
Hardik then sharpened his message, placing the blame squarely on the bowling group’s overall performance. “We didn’t execute the deliveries we were supposed to. They played well, but I think our bowlers need to take responsibility. As a bowling group, we were not at all up to the mark, and they played tremendous cricket,” Pandya concluded.
