Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has opined on the Mumbai Indians (MI) defeat in their IPL 2024 clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT). The Titans posted a 169-run target for MI after being asked to bat first in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 24. They then restricted the five-time champions to 162/9 to register a thrilling six-run win as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Tell me, how did they lose? They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. You can say that about Mumbai and you can say about Gujarat that they know how to win from a losing position because they had no business of winning this game. Mumbai were running away, then how did you lose?”
“Gujarat did not have Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami. They also lost the toss and so much dew came later that a kid could swim, but despite that, Mumbai lost the match. I was slightly surprised that Umesh Yadav came to bowl the last over. Azmatullah Omarzai could have come but he didn’t,” Chopra shared again.
While Hardik Pandya almost won the game for his side in the final over, Chopra questioned his batting position as well.
“Umesh Yadav – first ball went for a six and a four off the next ball. Hardik Pandya – absolutely rockstar, but why did you not come to bat earlier? Hardik Pandya, the leader, has to come up the batting order. I didn’t understand why he came so low in the batting order,” he shared.
Aakash Chopra also picked Jasprit Bumrah as the standout performer for the Mumbai Indians during the Gujarat Titans’ innings as well. He also praised Sai Sudharsan (45 off 39) for playing a mature knock for the Gujarat Titans as well. Meanwhile, Mohit Sharma returned figures of 2/32 in four overs.
“Bumrah is one of my three standout players. He dismissed Wriddhiman Saha – what a perfect yorker. Then he dismissed David Miller with a slower one. Then Sai Sudharsan played a very good shot but was caught in the deep. It was a ‘Player of the Match’ performance although his team didn’t win the game,” he shared. “My second performer was Sai Sudharsan, who eventually became the Player of the Match. He needs to be praised. This boy played well when his team stumbled a little. He started slowly but his wagon gathered pace after that. He is repeatedly playing with maturity and showing that he is one for the long haul, so you should stick with him.”
“My third performer of the day is Mohit Sharma. The game changed when Rohit Sharma got out to Sai Kishore. After that, when Dewald Brevis got out off Mohit’s bowling, I think that was the game-changing moment. Mohit brought a twist in the match, a match that was totally going in Mumbai’s favor,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
