A heated exchange occurred between Hardik Pandya and R Sai Kishore during the intense match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians on Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The incident took place in the second innings of the match, as MI chased 197 runs to win.
The confrontation happened in the fifteenth over of Mumbai Indians’ innings when Sai Kishore bowled a dot ball and gave Pandya a death stare. This provoked the Mumbai Indians captain, who responded by yelling out ‘f*** off* and walked towards Sai Kishore.
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The situation escalated as both players engaged in a staredown at the centre of the pitch, requiring umpire intervention.
However, they reconciled during the post-match handshake, sharing a hug and laughing off the incident.
‘No love lost with Hardik?’
After the IPL match, commentator Ian Bishop interviewed Sai Kishore and asked, “No love lost with Hardik?”
The spinner replied, “He’s a good friend of mine, inside the field it should be like that. Inside the field, anybody is an opponent, but we don’t take things personally.”
“We are good competitors. That’s how I think the game should be,” he added.
Sai Kishore delivered a solid performance, taking 1 wicket for 37 runs in his four-over spell, including the important dismissal of Tilak Varma.
Pandya had mixed fortunes in the match, performing well with the ball by taking two wickets for 29 runs but struggling with the bat, scoring only 11 runs from 17 balls. His dismissal by Rabada in the 17th over effectively ended Mumbai’s chances.
In the process, Mumbai Indians suffered their second consecutive loss of the season, failing to chase down the target of 197 runs. They managed to score 160/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Gujarat’s bowling attack proved effective, with Prasidh Krishna (2/18) and Mohammed Siraj (2/34) leading the charge. Siraj removed both openers, Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton, during the powerplay.
Krishna made crucial breakthroughs by dismissing Suryakumar Yadav (48) and Tilak Varma (39) in the middle overs, helping Gujarat secure a 36-run victory.
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