How MI Staged A Thrilling Comeback In IPL 2025? Hardik Pandya Shares The Story – Newsx

The breakthrough came in the 11th over when Karn Sharma dismissed Porel. Delhi still looked in control, but that changed dramatically just one over later.
How MI Staged a Thrilling Comeback in IPL 2025? Hardik Pandya Shares the Story
Heading into mid-April, Mumbai Indians were staring at a grim IPL 2025 campaign. With just one victory from their first five matches and the painful memory of finishing at the bottom of the table in 2024, things looked bleak.
They faced a dominant Delhi Capitals side on April 13, a team that had remained unbeaten in their four home games so far. What followed was a display of resilience and calculated aggression that redefined Mumbai’s season.
Choosing to bat first, MI’s top order rose to the occasion. Tilak Varma led the charge, smashing a brisk 59 off just 33 balls. The team finished with an imposing total of 205 for 5 in their 20 overs.
Delhi’s chase started poorly with the early dismissal of Jake Fraser-McGurk on the first ball. But Abishek Porel and Karun Nair rebuilt the innings, adding 119 runs for the second wicket. Their partnership put Mumbai under pressure.
The breakthrough came in the 11th over when Karn Sharma dismissed Porel. Delhi still looked in control, but that changed dramatically just one over later.
Karun Nair, who had been anchoring the innings with a powerful 89, was dismissed by a spinning delivery from Mitchell Santner. That moment, according to Hardik Pandya, marked the beginning of MI’s comeback.
“We realised we were in the game when Santner delivered the ball and it spun incredibly to dismiss Nair. He played one of the nicest innings I have seen and took us by surprise,” Pandya said while speaking on Hotstar.
“The way he was batting, we didn’t have many options. But the way that the ball spun allowed us to get our spinners in. Suddenly, the DC batters became tentative and not free-flowing as they were in the initial part of the innings,” he added.
Soon after, Jasprit Bumrah removed Delhi captain Axar Patel in the 13th over. From there, Delhi’s batting lineup began to unravel.
MI changed their approach from trying to take wickets to bowling disciplined lengths. This adjustment tightened the grip on the match.
“We then began focusing on bowling good-length deliveries rather than taking wickets. That is where the game started getting tight, and the game changed when Trent Boult delivered those six yorkers,” said Pandya.
“That over went for just three runs and I would credit our support staff for that because they work behind the scenes to let us know opposition batters’ weaknesses. From that point, we decided to be as ruthless as possible,” he added.
The mix of sharp tactics, timely breakthroughs and a united team effort helped MI pull off a comeback that could define their IPL 2025 journey.
ALSO READ: Snehasish Ganguly, Sourav Ganguly’s Brother, Out Of Danger After Dramatic Boat Accident
 
© Copyright ITV Network Ltd 2025. All rights reserved.

source