Mumbai Indians' dismal 2024 IPL season, which culminated in a second last-place finish in three years, has left captain Hardik Pandya deeply disappointed. The five-time champions, who also finished last in 2022, managed to win only four out of 14 games under Pandya's leadership.
Reflecting on the season, Pandya acknowledged that the team's performance fell significantly short of expectations. "We did not play good quality cricket, eventually cost us the whole season," he said after MI's 18-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai. "It's a professional world. Have to always come out and put our best foot forward. But yes, as a group we could not play quality cricket or smart cricket."
Pandya's return to the MI setup was met with much fanfare, but the team struggled to find consistency throughout the season. Injuries to key players, including Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer, further hampered their progress.
Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul, whose team also finished out of the play-off zone, expressed similar disappointment. "Very disappointing. At the start of the season, I felt we had a very strong season and most bases covered. Couple of injuries happen but the guys who went away dented us a little bit," Rahul said, referring to the absence of Mayank Yadav.
Rahul, who is not part of the Indian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup, remained non-committal on whether he would bat in the middle order in the future. "Maybe, maybe not, there's not much T20 cricket coming up [for me] now," he said. "It depends on where I stand and what I need to do to get back in the team, I'll think about what the team needs."
As the dust settles on another disappointing season for Mumbai Indians, Pandya and his team will likely dissect what went wrong and look to make significant changes ahead of the 2025 IPL season.
Tags: #MumbaiIndians, #HardikPandya, #IPL2024, #Cricket, #Disappointment
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