"Once Rohit Sharma Was Back...": Hardik Pandya's Blunt Admission After Defeat Against RCB

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya expressed disappointment after losing the fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Monday. Rajat-led RCB continues to defy narratives and breach fortresses as after beating five-time Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk after 17 years, they have now beaten five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede for the first time in 10 overs, overcoming a scary partnership between Tilak Varma and skipper Hardik Pandya that threatened to chase down 222 runs set by RCB.

"It was a run-fest. The wicket was really good. I was just talking about that to myself that again we fell short with two hits. I don't have much to say. (Was 221 par or above-par?) The way the wicket was, the bowers didn't really have much place to hide. It came down to execution. You can stop the batters, but I don't want to be harsh on the bowlers. It was a tough track; we did not have many options. (No. 3 position) The original skeleton of our team, Naman, was always batting down the order," Hardik Pandya said in the post-match presentation.

Rohit Sharma played the first three games for the five-time champions in the IPL 2025, scoring 13 (against Chennai Super Kings), 8 (against Gujarat Titans), and 0 (against Kolkata Knight Riders) respectively before missing the franchise's previous encounter, which was played against Lucknow Sper Giants (LSG) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

After missing the last game, Rohit played in the 20th clash of the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league as the impact player. He came out to the field in the 15th over of the RCB innings.