21 April,2026 02:58 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma (Pic: File Pic)
In the IPL 2026 match against Gujarat Titans (GT), Mumbai Indians (MI) emerged victorious by 99 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Mumbai.
Batting first, the "Paltan" posted a total of 199 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. During the first innings, MI skipper Hardik Pandya was seen having an animated chat with Tilak Varma.
Speaking after the match on JioHotstar, Varma revealed the chat by saying that Pandya was trying to boost his confidence.
"As everyone knows, Hardik bhai is very energetic. He was charged up and kept saying, âYou can do it, you will do it,' to boost me. I just asked him to calm down because I needed to stay focused, and I assured him that I would take care of the rest," he said.
Later, the Hyderabad-born cricketer smashed an unbeaten 101 runs in just 45 balls, including eight boundaries and seven maximums.
In the second essay of the game, the Titans were bowled out for 100 runs in 15.5 overs. Washington Sundar emerged as the highest scorer for the hosts. Facing 16 balls, he scored 26 runs, with the help of five boundaries.
MI's Impact Player, Ashwani Kumar, returned with the figures of four wickets for 24 runs in four overs. Allah Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner bagged two wickets each to their names. Skipper Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah chipped in with one wicket each.
Currently, the "Paltan" is placed in the seventh position with two wins and four defeats. The Hardik Pandya-led team also has a net run rate (NRR) of +0.067 and four points.
The "Men in Blue and Gold" will now gear up to lock horns with fierce rivals, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), on April 23 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (wk), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Atharva Ankolekar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande, Mohammad Izhar, Raghu Sharma.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar.
