During the intense encounter between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, emotions ran high, particularly between Hardik Pandya and R Sai Kishore. Hardik, who had captained Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in 2022, found himself facing his former team, and tempers flared during the chase of a daunting 197 runs.
A fiery moment between the two friends occurred when Sai Kishore gave Pandya a piercing stare after bowling a dot ball in the fifteenth over of Mumbai’s innings. This stare visibly upset the Mumbai captain, who responded angrily with strong words. The tension escalated, and the two players exchanged a brief but intense staredown, with umpires stepping in to prevent further conflict.
GAME
Hardik Pandya Sai Kishore – teammates then, rivals now!
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However, after the match, the two players made amends, sharing a hug and a laugh during the customary post-match handshake, putting the incident behind them. Sai Kishore, who had a solid outing with the ball, finished his spell with figures of 1/37 from four overs, including a crucial wicket of Tilak Varma.
Hardik Pandya hugs Sai Kishore and congratulated him. pic.twitter.com/h2yHYEW7r5
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Mumbai Indians remains winless after defeat to Gujarat Titans
Hardik Pandya led from the front with an impactful performance with the ball, picking up two wickets for 29 runs. However his batting failed to inspire his team, which chasing daunting target. He managed just 11 runs from 17 balls before being dismissed by Rabada in the 17th over, sealing Mumbai’s defeat. This loss marked their second consecutive defeat to start the season.
On the bowling front, Prasidh Krishna (2/18) and Mohammed Siraj (2/34) were the standout performers for Gujarat, helping restrict Mumbai to 160/6 in their 20 overs after Gujarat posted 196/8 earlier. Siraj made early breakthroughs by dismissing openers Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton, while Krishna’s middle-over success, taking key wickets of Suryakumar Yadav (48) and Tilak Varma (39), ensured Gujarat’s dominance.
