Courtesy: BCCI/IPL
Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Eliminator between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the latter’s captain Hardik Pandya endeavoured to embolden his team’s confidence with an Instagram post. Pandya, who has led Mumbai to the playoffs for the first time as captain, will look to lead his team from the front in the remainder of the tournament to become the first and only captain to win the IPL trophy for two different sides. In 2022, when GT broke into IPL, Pandya guided the side to the title victory with his captaincy.
Taking to Instagram, Pandya posted a clip of himself gearing up in nets, for the high-voltage clash. He captioned the post, “Now or never,” which is a message to his side to be at their best and grab the opportunity of winning the trophy with both hands this time. MI made a comeback in the league round after losing their four off initial five games. However, they couldn’t beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their final game of the round-robin stage and failed to claim the top spot.
Hardik Pandya expected to be disciplined in IPL 2025 Eliminator
Hardik Pandya hasn’t performed as per his reputation in this tournament. The 31-year-old has played 13 matches in the competition and has notched up only 187 runs and 13 wickets. Contesting against his former side GT in Eliminator, his role will be to lead the side from the front by providing effective figures to the team with both bat and ball.
Mumbai haven’t beaten Gujarat since Pandya’s appointment as captain. This year, both sides clashed against each other twice in which Titans emerged victorious on both occasions. Their last encounter happened at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on May 6, when the visitors held their nerves and chased down 147 runs in the last-ball thriller.
