Hardik Pandya pins the blame on bowlers for loss against Rajasthan Royals, tells them to take ‘more responsibility’

Hardik Pandya wasn't pleased with his bowling unit after the Mumbai Indians went down against the Rajasthan Royals.

Updated on: Apr 8, 2026, 04:04:40 IST

Written by Vishesh Roy

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Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi brought their best to the 11-overs-a-side contest against the Mumbai Indians as the Rajasthan Royals registered a comprehensive 27-run win in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 fixture at the Barsapara Stadium on Wednesday. Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi played knocks of 77* and 39 as Rajasthan posted 150/3 in 11 overs, and the total proved enough for the Royals as Mumbai eventually fell 27 runs short after being reduced to 123/9. With this loss, the Mumbai Indians faced a second defeat in a row, and as expected, skipper Hardik Pandya wasn't pleased with the effort.

Mumbai Indians lost by 27 runs against the Rajasthan Royals. (PTI)

The Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik pinpointed the areas of concern, saying the bowlers need to step up and take some more responsibility. He also said that the batters of his team cannot be faulted, as they had a steep target to chase and had to go for their shots from ball number one.

“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 right couple of balls. And if you see 27 (margin of defeat), that means we are talking about 5 good balls and 5 fewer sixes. So if we had executed the right balls, we would have been in the game,” Hardik said after the match.

Also Read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi leaves Jasprit Bumrah startled, frustrates Rohit Sharma, then screams at himself in 14-ball mayhem

“But as I said, their openers in the first couple of overs threw us out of the game. Then, throughout, we were catching up, and we fell short,” he added.

The match between Mumbai and Rajasthan saw Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult all leak runs, and it was no surprise to see Hardik have a stern word for his bowlers, asking them to pull up their socks.

“We didn't execute the deliveries which we were supposed to. They played well. 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,” said Pandya.

How did the match unfold?

The Royals-Mumbai Indians fixture was delayed by more than 2 hours due to rain in Guwahati. The match eventually got underway at 10:10 PM IST on Tuesday, April 7, as an 11-overs-per-side contest. Mumbai captain Hardik won the toss and opted to bowl.

Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal started to hammer the Mumbai bowlers all around the park, and neither of the two was willing to take a backward step. The 15-year-old smashed Jasprit Bumrah for a six off the very first ball he faced off him. Eventually, Sooryavanshi lost his wicket to Shardul, but Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 77 to take the Royals to 150/3.

Mumbai Indians were never in with a chance of chasing the total down as the five-time champions lost Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Hardik and Tilak Varma in the first five overs. In the end, Rajasthan registered a comprehensive 27-run win to make it three wins in a row and move to the top of the points table. On the other hand, Mumbai have now lost two out of their three opening matches.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vishesh Roy
Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan.Read More

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