{"id":162584,"date":"2026-05-03T00:01:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T05:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=162584"},"modified":"2026-05-03T00:01:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T05:31:04","slug":"not-the-season-admits-mi-skipper-hardik-pandya-after-another-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=162584","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not the season,\u2019 admits MI skipper Hardik Pandya after another defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya admitted the side\u2019s IPL 2026 campaign never really got off the ground after the five-time champion slumped to yet another heavy defeat\u2014an eight-wicket thrashing by Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.<\/p>\n

MI failed to post a challenging total, managing just 159 for 7, with Naman Dhir emerging as the lone standout batter, scoring 57. CSK chased down the target in 18.1 overs to move to eight points from nine games and keep its playoff hopes alive.<\/p>\n

MI, though not mathematically out of contention, faces a steep climb, languishing on four points after seven defeats in nine matches and sitting ninth on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot the season,\u201d conceded Pandya after the match, as neither his side\u2019s batting nor bowling showed any real spark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (CSK) played better, they bowled better, they fielded better, and they batted better,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He added that a higher total might have given MI a better chance.<\/p>\n

READ: Timely peak and learnings from M.S. Dhoni: Kartik\u2019s rise eases CSK\u2019s concerns in IPL 2026<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201c(A score of) 180-190 should have been a good total. We couldn\u2019t get the momentum. It was more about playing calculative cricket. Overall, as a bowling unit, they were better, and as a batting unit, we weren\u2019t better. The bowling options that we had, we went with it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Asked if his bowlers needed to be more aggressive when defending a modest total, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what aggressive we would have been. I think we would have had to throw some fireballs to get them out. They just played smart cricket.”<\/p>\n

Player of the Match Ruturaj Gaikwad said chasing a lower total made the task significantly easier for the Super Kings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started well, then they got momentum. We pulled it back after PowerPlay and were chasing 20-30 runs less. It was about getting a good start, and then one of the batters had to go deep,\u201d said Gaikwad, who scored an unbeaten 67.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeels good to bat till the end. I was always feeling well, confident. But in T20s you can hit good shots straight to fielders. But my teammates and management made sure I was feeling well. I wanted to make sure to take the team to the end if I got a start,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Published on May 03, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya admitted the side\u2019s IPL 2026 campaign never really got off the ground after the five-time champion slumped to yet another heavy defeat\u2014an eight-wicket thrashing by Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. MI failed to post a challenging total, managing just 159 for 7, with Naman Dhir emerging as the lone standout…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/India_IPL_Cricket_85_16.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgnRh4-Gik","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=162584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/162585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=162584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=162584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=162584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}