The Mumbai Indians have had a rough start to the new IPL season, dropping both of their first two matches, which has left captain Hardik Pandya worried. After losing to the Super Kings in Chennai during the opening week, they faced another defeat, this time by 36 runs against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Hardik pointed fingers at the batters, highlighting the "basic errors" that contributed to their two losses.

In Ahmedabad, Gujarat presented a challenging pitch, and their top order, spearheaded by opener Sai Sudharshan, got off to a strong start, racking up 66 runs during the powerplay. Sudharshan went on to score his second consecutive fifty in the tournament. Hardik believed that MI had already lost a significant part of the match during that early phase.

"They played exceptionally well," Hardik remarked during the post-match presentation. "The way they batted was impressive. They didn't take unnecessary risks and found the boundaries effectively. They executed their game plan perfectly. I think in the powerplay, they managed to score runs without playing high-risk shots, which put us on the back foot, and from that point on, we were just trying to catch up."

Batters need to step up and contribute

Hardik felt that MI got a taste of their own medicine, having picked up on his strategy of using slower deliveries, which helped him secure two wickets.

"Absolutely, that crossed my mind," he said when asked if GT learned from his successful bowling technique where he reduced the pace and ended up with figures of 2 for 29. "Maybe I bowled a few too many balls—they figured out that it was gripping. On this pitch, those were the trickiest deliveries because some were skidding, some were bouncing, and some were gripping. With that kind of inconsistent bounce, it can be tough for batters," he explained.

However, the all-rounder expressed concern about MI's batting, even with a lineup that includes stars like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and himself.

"We weren't professional in the field; we made some basic mistakes that cost us 20-25 runs, which is significant in a T20 match. I don't think we should worry about the batting just yet, but it’s time to step up," Hardik noted. "We all need to take responsibility, and it's still early in the season. But at the same time, the batters need to deliver. Hopefully, they will soon."

MI's next match is against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday at their home ground.

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