"He played a bad shot" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya's dismissal in Mumbai Indians' IPL 2024 loss vs Rajasthan Royals

Aakash Chopra has noted that Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya virtually threw his wicket when he could have taken his side to a fighting total in their IPL 2024 loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Mumbai on Monday, April 1.

Hardik top-scored for MI with a 21-ball 34 and was caught at long-on while trying to hit a maximum off Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling. The home team managed only 125/9 after being asked to bat first and eventually lost the game by six wickets.

Reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Hardik lost an opportunity to endear himself to the Mumbai Indians fans.

"Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya stitched together a good partnership. If they had played a little while longer, a lot of life would have been left in this match. Although it wasn't a 210-run pitch, it was a 160 to 170-run one. There would have been a fight at that score and you could have even won the match," he elaborated (11:40).

"Hardik was batting well and counterattacked a little. The only way to win the public's love is by scoring runs, taking wickets, and making the team win. If he does that job, nothing succeeds like success, and the platform was absolutely set for that. Four players had gotten out for 20 and you were batting very well. He played a bad shot," the former India opener added.

Chopra observed that the all-rounder lost his wicket to an ill-timed shot.

"You can call it an error of judgment because that shot was not on. It was just the third ball of the 10th over and even if he had hit Yuzi Chahal for a six, things wouldn't have changed. However, he got out and Tilak Varma also got out," he stated.

Chopra noted that Nandre Burger and Trent Boult had bowled three overs apiece, and Avesh Khan's first over was expensive. He added that the two well-set Mumbai Indians batters would have faced a lot of spin in the last 10 overs and just one over each from Burger and Boult.

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"Akash Madhwal was the only shining star" - Aakash Chopra on the Mumbai Indians' bowling

Akash Madhwal registered figures of 3/20 in four overs. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Reflecting on the Mumbai Indians' bowling, Chopra praised Akash Madhwal for his impressive spell after Jasprit Bumrah couldn't strike blows with the new ball.

"Mumbai were expecting wickets from Bumrah but they didn't get them. He was bowling okay but didn't get wickets. Akash Madhwal was the only shining star but Mumbai looked like struggling slightly apart from that. It won't be easy to stage a turnaround from here," he said (14:50).

Chopra noted that the Mumbai Indians have three upcoming home games. He opined that the five-time champions' home dominance should come to the fore, starting with their batting. He added that Suryakumar Yadav's availability could define their season.