Kolkata: Swashbuckling Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who played a blistering 91-run knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture, said he couldn’t have done anything else apart from going from the word go.
Chasing a mammoth 233 at the Eden Gardens, MI lost wickets in a heap until Pandya came and single-handedly kept them in the hunt by getting his highest IPL score on Sunday. During the 34 balls he faced, the all-rounder smashed nine sixes and six fours and created jitters in the KKR dugout before getting out to Harry Gurney.
It was the first time that Hardik had entered 90s in the IPL and was close to getting a three-figure mark. “I was just telling Krunal ‘damn I am close to a hundred’ that is something new for me,” said Hardik in the post-match presentation ceremony. “The situation demanded to go all out and I was lucky enough everything was coming out, except the ball I got out. To be honest, with this kind of total you don’t think much, just go out there and express yourself. I knew (Keiron) Pollard was there, I couldn’t take time and I just wanted to enjoy the game,” he added.
The 25-year-old said it would have been much closer had his brother Krunal stayed with him a little more during the chase as then they could have taken the game deep. “I am just holding my shape pretty well and the confidence makes a huge difference. I knew something different had to happen, but it was difficult for one guy to keep going. If Krunal had got a couple, we would have been proper in the game. My plan was to get close to the total so that the run rate doesn’t get affected,” he said.
