IPL 2024: Rating team-wise expensive players' performances after their first games
After four days of cricketing action in the 2024 IPL, all teams have played their opening games and it’s time to discuss the performances of their most expensive players.
5. Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians)- 5/10
Hardik Pandya returned to MI after three years and got the captaincy mantle. The trade deal with Gujarat Titans (GT) ended with the all-rounder getting signed up for his previous season’s amount of INR 15 crore. Donning Mumbai blues against his former side at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium, Pandya struggled with both bat and ball.
Winning the toss against his counterpart Shubman Gill, he elected to bowl first. Instead of opening with his premier bowler Jasprit Bumrah, he decided to bowl the first over and begin the innings. He bowled three overs and gave away 30 runs without getting any wickets. With the bat, he tasked himself to play the role of a finisher while batting at number seven.
In the last over of the game, Mumbai needed 19 runs and he looked extremely confident with boundaries on the initial two balls against Umesh Yadav. After getting whacked for a couple of boundaries, the veteran speedster held his nerves and got rid of the 30-year-old. Pandya’s failure to finish the game cost Mumbai as Gill and Co. succeeded in bringing joy to the faces of their fans with a six-run win.
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