As Mumbai Indians’ new captain Hardik Pandya began his captaincy with a six-run defeat to Gujarat Titans on Sunday, an avoidable incident took place in the stands as fans clashed with each other. A video has surfaced on social media in which fans could be seen exchanging punches while the Indian Premier League (IPL) match was in progress. It’s not yet clear what led to the ugly feud between fans, but things turned ugly in no time and involved a lot of people.
@gharkekalesh pic.twitter.com/S91TBVDClm
— Arhant Shelby (@Arhantt_pvt) March 25, 2024
As for the match, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was asked a lot of questions about the on-field incidents that took place. He was asked about the decision of batsman Tilak Varma, who refused to take a single at a crucial moment when he batted wide of Tim David.
With a target of 169, MI finished at 162/9 in 20 overs after looking on course for victory.
“Obviously we are backing ourselves to chase those 42 runs (in the last five overs), but it was one of those days where we see the score coming down quite a bit in those last five overs. We lost some momentum there,” said Pandya during the match. presentation after the match.
“It feels good to be back because this is a stadium where you can enjoy yourself and feel the atmosphere very lively. The crowd was clearly full and they also played a good match.” When asked about Varma’s refusal to turn a single, the skipper said: “I think Tilak felt that was a better idea at that time. I fully support him. No problem, (we have) thirteen more matches to go.” New Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill was all praise for his bowlers, especially spinners R Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan, who performed extremely well despite the dew falling at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“I think the way the boys held their nerves, and the way we enjoyed the death overs, especially with the dew coming in, I thought it was special.
“With the dew and the way the spinners bowled, they kept us in the game. It was all about applying pressure,” Gill said.
MI skipper Pandya won the toss and invited GT to bat first, keeping the dew factor in mind.
Gill added: “We just wanted them to feel under pressure. The plan was to build up the pressure and wait for them to make a mistake.’
With PTI inputs
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