After fifth defeat of season, ‘outplayed’ Hardik says not the right time to…

NEW DELHI: Stylish opener Yashasvi Jaiswal on Monday roared back to form with a sizzling ton after Sandeep Sharma’s maiden IPL five-for as a rampaging Rajasthan Royals hammered Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at home.
After Sandeep returned 4-0-18-5 to record the best bowling figures this IPL, Jaiswal found form at last in Rajasthan’s final home game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, flaying the Mumbai Indians attack during his 104 not out off 60 balls.
While Royals notched up their seventh win to consolidate top spot, it was a fifth defeat of the season for Mumbai Indians and Hardik Pandya.
The under-pressure MI skipper admitted to being outplayed by the opposition but said he would not get into any immediate dissection of 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 presentation.
“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,” Hardik said.
“Progression is very important. Within the team, individually, we will have to accept our flaws and maybe work on those,” said Hardik after MI dropped at least three catches against Rajasthan.
Hardik has endured a tough time this season after he replaced veteran Rohit Sharma as skipper only to be booed by the fans across venues.
(With inputs from agencies)