IPL 2023: Hardik Pandya's Inspirational Words Despite Mumbai Indians' Defeat

Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya said Sunday's defeat against Rajasthan Royals proved to be a big lesson for his team. Chasing a target of 178, the Gujarat Titans bowlers put Rajasthan Royals on top by dismissing the in-form opening pair of Yashaswi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler in the powerplay. Royals were on the back foot in the first half of the chase but Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer exploded in the second half to help them win the match by three wickets. “That's the beauty of this game. The game never ends. It was also a message to the boys. The game is never over until it's over. So I think this is another lesson for us," Hardik said in the post-match presentation.

Hardik also talked about using Noor Ahmed as an impact player in tight game situations. "He is someone who is hard to pick. He actually bowled well. I don't want to be harsh on him. He gave us a big breakthrough which we wanted, but I think the other bowlers didn't execute it. " he said. The defending champions are currently third on the points table, but Hardik feels that this is a long tournament and will have to play quality cricket in the upcoming matches. “It's a very long tournament. Obviously, all these losses remind you at the end of the tournament that even if you're not on the other side, it's still a very long tournament. There are many matches left. Even if we had won today, we still need to play a lot of good cricket,” he said.

David Miller put the finishing touches to the Titans' innings and helped them post 177/7 but Hardik said they were still 10 runs short. “I thought we were a few runs short at the break of the innings. They bowled some good overs but we should have worked harder to put the game [out of reach] and get a total of 200. When I was looking out, I thought we were maybe 10 runs short,” he said.