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.
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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.
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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.