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The 27-run loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Tuesday left Mumbai Indians (MI) in seventh place in the IPL 2026 standings with two points from three matches.
Mumbai Indians' captain Hardik Pandya walks off the field after his dismissal during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 T20 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, in Guwahati, on Tuesday, 7 April. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)(PTI)Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya has called on his bowlers to take more responsibility following his team's defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a rain-curtailed match in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians suffered a 27-run loss to Rajasthan Royals in a match that was shortened to 11 overs due to rain. Rajasthan Royals, who were asked to bat first, posted a total of 150/3 from 11 overs on the back of an unbeaten 77 from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
In reply, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 123/9 from 11 overs, with their top-order batters Ryan Rickelton (8), Rohit Sharma (5) and Suryakumar Yadav (6) all failing to fire.
Hardik Pandya blames bowlers for MI's loss to RR
“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 Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
“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. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were among the bowlers who leaked runs. Rajasthan Royals, in fact, surged to 59/0 in the shortened powerplay of 3.2, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (39) setting the platform for a big total.
“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,” stated the Baroda all-rounder.
The defeat leaves the five-time champions in seventh place with just two points from three matches, with their only win coming so far against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their opening match.
They then suffered a six-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) before going down to Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. Mumbai Indians will hope to return to winning ways when they next take on defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
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