The Indian cricket legend Wasim Jaffer shares a little story about Hardik Pandya that happened in 2015 in Baroda. Hardik Pandya has long claimed Wasim Jaffer as his idol, and most recently, in the Naman Awards by the BCCI. On being asked about Hardik Pandya, Wasim Jaffer says that before a Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Baroda, he was invited for dinner by Irfan, where Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya were present. Wasim Jaffer was told that Hardik Pandya is an exciting talent and that he looks up to him as his idol and role model.

Hardik Pandya was picked by the Mumbai Indians in 2015, and Irfan had already predicted that Hardik Pandya would be a name that would be heard more often. He was claimed to be a young, interesting talent, and in every interview right from the start of his career, he has stated that Wasim Jaffer is his idol.

 

Mumbai Indians search for momentum as inconsistent run continues ahead of RCB clash

The Mumbai Indians have not had the best of starts in the IPL as they have won only one game in the season so far, and they are currently placed at the 8th position in the table. The Mumbai Indians were off to a dominant performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders as they chased down a mammoth total of 221. The Mumbai bowling unit didn’t perform quite well as they were expensive and were not able to pick wickets.

Shardul Thakur was one of the brilliant finds they had as he picked up 3 wickets, dismissing the key batters of the Kolkata bowling unit. Their openers Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton had a brilliant first match as they put up an opening partnership of 148, and each of them scored a much-needed half-century. However, their middle order wasn’t quite up to the mark as Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma were dismissed for low scores. The Mumbai Indians managed to get the victory by 6 wickets, and they created a strong impression.  

Despite a commanding start to the season, the Mumbai Indians were not able to carry the momentum forward. The Delhi Capitals produced a fine bowling performance against the Mumbai Indians to limit them to a total of just 162. They lost early wickets as the middle order didn’t fire as they had expected to, and Tilak Varma was dismissed for a duck. Mumbai attempted a fightback against the Capitals with some early wickets in the powerplay,y but Sameer Rizvi spoiled the party and took the Delhi Capitals home with a fine knock of 90 off 51 balls.

In the rain-affected game against the Rajasthan Royals, it posed an entirely different challenge as the overs were limited to just 11 per side. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal took the game away from the Mumbai Indians in the power play with a staggering opening partnership. The Mumbai Indians had to chase down 15,1 but none of their key batters stepped up, and they failed to chase the total. Sherfane Rutherford scored a quickfire innings towards the end, but it was of no good as the Mumbai Indians lost by 27 runs.

As the Mumbai Indians gear up to take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede, they will be hopeful that they can get to their 2nd win of the season. RCB are coming off their first loss of the season against the Rajasthan Royals, and the clash between India’s most celebrated cricketing duo, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, will be under the spotlight.