The Mumbai Indians remain the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs hunt, though only mathematically, as they secured a 7-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians skipper who hasn’t tasted much success this season, refused to get into the IPL playoffs numbers when informed about the same by former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar at the post-match presentation ceremony. For Hardik, the only focus remains is putting as many wins under the belt in the remaining two matches, as possible and seeing where the fate takes him and his team. (IPL 2024 Points Table)

Mumbai Indians produced a much-better all-round display against the Sunrisers, with Suryakumar Yadav stepping up with a match-winning knock of 102 off just 51 balls. Hardik also looked astute with his bowling as well as captaincy decisions as MI handed SRH their 3rd defeat in last 4 matches.

But, despite the win, Hardik isn’t getting carried away as far as MI’s playoffs chances are concerned.

“I don’t know which mathematical situation we’re talking about, but at the same time, you want to focus on playing good cricket,” Hardik said in the post-match presentation, replying to Manjrekar’s suggestion.

“The way our batters batted, that was excellent. My bowling, I like to bowl in the right areas, I bowl according to the situation. Bowled in the right areas today and it worked. I was like Chawla had to bowl from the shorter side. He (Chawla) had to be accurate, the margin of errors have become smaller these days for the bowlers.

“It’s unbelievable, the best past of SKY is that he puts the bowlers under pressure. It’s sheer confidence, his game has changed, is one of the best batters. He can change a game in a different way, lucky to have him (SKY) in our side,” Hardik further said in the presentation ceremony.

For MI to finish among the top 4 sides in the IPL this season, they don’t just need to win their remaining 2 matches in the league campaign but also hope for a few other results to fall in their favour. Even margins of MI’s wins in the last two matches have to be huge in order for them to remain in realistic contention.