sAll is well in the Mumbai camp as the 5-time champions held their nerves to clinch a thrilling last-over finish in IPL 2024 against PBKS on Thursday in Mullanpur. Captain Hardik Pandya and former captain Rohit Sharma were in good spirits after MI survived a scare from 25-year-old Ashutosh Sharma, who nearly pulled off a heist in their 193-run chase. In what felt like an icing on the cake, Rohit and Hardik shared a warm embrace before the rest of the team broke into a celebration in the newly-built stadium in Chandigarh.
The visuals of Rohit embracing Hardik after the thrilling win have gone viral on social media amid speculation about a rift in the Mumbai camp. It was a crucial win for the Hardik Pandya-led 5-time champions as they bounced back for a morale-crushing defeat to arch-rivals Super Kings at home on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma was actively involved in the leadership group discussions on Thursday as the IPL 2024 match went down the wire. PBKS were reeling at 14 for 4 and then at 77 for 6 before their usual suspects, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, joined to launch a counter-attack. Despite losing Shashank for a 25-ball 41 in the 13th over, Ashutosh kept their hopes alive with a sensational cameo of 61 from just 29 balls.
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Ashutosh got out in the 18th over, but he made sure that Punjab brought the asking rate down to a little over 7. Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel, PBKS's last batting pair was in the middle when they needed 12 runs in the final over.
Hardik Pandya entrusted young Akash Madhwal with the responsibility of defending those runs in the final over. Even as MI were behind the over-rate, captain Hardik took his time to get the field placements right. Rohit, who was animated throughout the contest, lent a leaning shoulder to Hardik, helping the new skipper with the field placements in the end overs. Hardik, Rohit and Akash had a conference before the young pacer began his last over.
It all ended well for MI as Kagiso Rabada was run-out in the first legal delivery of the final over as MI clinched a 9-run win. Earlier in the day, Suryakumar Yadav's 53-ball 78 and cameos from Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma ensured MI posted an above-par total of 192.
Published By:
Akshay Ramesh
Published On:
Apr 19, 2024
English (US) ·