Mumbai Indians’ (MI) search for a record-extending sixth IPL title came to a disappointing end after suffering a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2. While MI captain took the blame for the loss, former South African captain AB de Villiers came out in support of the losing skipper, stating that MI were outplayed by batting brilliance.

In a rain-delayed knockout clash in Ahmedabad, Mumbai Indians posted a massive 203 for 6 on the back of strong performances from Suryakumar Yadav (44 off 26), Tilak Varma (44 off 29), and Naman Dhir (37 off 18). In reply, PBKS chasing 204, pulled off a feat that had never been done before against MI in IPL history, successfully chasing a 200-plus total.

Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 87 off 41 balls guided the team into only their second IPL final after 11 long years. The right-handed batter was well supported by Josh Inglis and Nehal Wadhera. AB de Villiers came to Pandya’s defense after the latter took the blame for the loss.

"I feel for Hardik and the questions he had to face afterwards. It’s tough being a captain — there’s a lot of emotion involved. I’ve been there, and it’s never easy to admit things didn’t go as planned. But I don’t agree with the criticism. They had a par score with the bat and were simply outplayed while bowling. Of course, you want to bowl 120 perfect yorkers, but no team is perfect. Shreyas Iyer, and to some extent Josh Inglis, made the difference. They were outplayed by quality cricket — that’s the beauty of the game," he said on JioStar.

Meanwhile, disappointed Pandya mentioned MI’s failure to defend the total. He pointed out the decision to hold Jasprit Bumrah back until the 18th over.

"I'll not put it on the wicket, if we had to do something better it was to bowl right lengths, or bowl the right bowler at the right time. I'm someone who likes to take it all on me, and maybe I could have managed my troops a little better. I think it was par, but it needed great execution as a bowling unit, matters in a big game, they were really calm, put us under pressure, and we couldn't execute," Pandya said at the post-match interview.