Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered another significant defeat in the IPL 2024 season on Monday (April 22). The five-time champions faced a nine-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Choosing to bat first, MI managed to score 179/9, led by Tilak Varma’s 45-ball 65 and Nehal Wadhera’s 24-ball 49. Sandeep Sharma excelled for RR, claiming five wickets while conceding only 18 runs in his four overs.

In response, the hosts capitalized on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten century (104* off 60 balls) to chase down the target with eight deliveries to spare.

Following the match, MI skipper Hardik Pandya acknowledged being outperformed by the opposition but refrained from immediately dissecting the loss.

“We put ourselves in trouble early on. The way Tilak and Nehal batted – that was fantastic but we didn’t finish well and that’s why we were 10-15 runs short. While bowling, we had to keep it within the stumps. Early on in the powerplay, we gave a lot of width and I don’t think it was our best day in the field as well. Overall, we did not put the right foot on the park and eventually they outplayed us,” Hardik said in the post-match interaction.

“After the game, it’s not the right time to go to the players, everyone is professional, they know their roles. What we can do is learn from this game and the mistakes which we have made, rectify it and make sure that we don’t make it,” he added.