Mumbai Indians allrounder Hardik Pandya was brilliant on the field against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, something that is necessary if you are defending a low score. A couple of runouts he affected during the course of the game changed the balance on its head. But among the two runouts, the wicket of the SRH captain was the more important one at that point in time in the game.
Young Virat Singh dabbed the ball towards point and it was Warner’s call. Hardik was quick to the ball before firing a direct hit at the striker’s end. The SRH skipper was way short and he started his walk back to the dugout as soon as the direct hit was made.
After the game, Hardik revealed the secret behind the throw. Hardik reckoned his primary focus was to get the ball in his hand before taking a throw at the stumps.
“I just make sure that the ball is in my hand and then target the stumps. To be honest, the run-out of Warner, I wasn’t expecting him to be that far, I just wanted to take aim and hit, and only then I realized that he was well short,” he said after Mumbai beat Hyderabad.
Hailing the character of the team, Hardik reckoned it was the bowlers who brought Mumbai back in the contest.
“We have a lot of character as a team, they got to a great start, but our bowlers pulled them back nicely, bowled good line and lengths, made sure that the pressure was built. Rahul Chahar, Krunal and all the others – we bowled as a unit, held the nerves and used all the opportunities that came our way,” Hardik added.
With the win, MI go top of the table.