“I felt MI did not use enough of their brain” - Former KKR batter’s scathing criticism after loss in IPL 2025 match vs PBKS
Former India batter Manoj Tiwary slammed the Mumbai Indians (MI) for not making sensible bowling choices during their seven-wicket loss to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Hardik Pandya-led side finished the league stage on 16 points after closing out the league stage at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, and await their opponents for the Eliminator in the playoffs.
MI were put into bat first by PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer and were unable to stitch together a free-flowing batting display they wished for. The in-form Suryakumar Yadav held the innings together with his half-century, but the likes of Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma could only chip in with sluggish knocks. MI finished with 184 on the board, a total which Suryakumar Yadav admitted was below par during the innings break.
Prabhsimran Singh, struggling against the new ball, was the sole hiccup that PBKS had to endure during the run chase. Priyansh Arya and Josh Inglis scored fifties, stitching together a 109-run stand for the second wicket to set down the foundation for the team. PBKS closed out the chase with nine balls to spare and sealed their place in the top two. They will play the Qualifier 1 clash in Mullanpur on May 29.
Manoj Tiwary lambasted MI for not handing the new ball to Jasprit Bumrah in such a crucial game.
"I felt MI did not use enough of their brain, you need to update it some times. See, there was no way for MI to win that match by defending the score for 20 overs, wickets were the only way for them because PBKS have a lot of depth in their batting. If you don't pick up early wickets, they will chase down scores easily, which is what eventually happened," Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.
"In such cases, you have to see who your wicket-takers are. Even if you ask a by-stander that who has the best chance of picking wickets with the new ball, they would say Jasprit Bumrah. If you don't give Bumrah the first over that is fine, because Trent Boult has a brilliant record while bowling with the brand new ball, but Bumrah should have been given the new ball at least today," he added.
Bumrah was introduced into the attack in the fifth over of the innings, and made the first breakthrough for MI off his second delivery itself. He finished with figures of 1-23 while the rest of the bowling attack struggled.
"The bowling has been great throughout the season" - MI captain Hardik Pandya after loss to PBKS in IPL 2025
MI went into the clash against PBKS with a pace-heavy attack as Ashwani Kumar was brought into the side as an impact sub. Mitchell Santner was the sole spinner as Karn Sharma was dropped.
The fearsome pace trio of Boult, Bumrah, and Chahar have largely clicked, but it was not to be against PBKS in Jaipur. The left-arm seamer could not find early movement, while Chahar struggled with a niggle early in his spell too.
"We need to play good cricket. What template will work as a batting group. The bowling has been great throughout the season. A couple of things we need to figure out, we knew what was at stake, and we knew what we needed to do. We are in the same situation as four days ago and we are looking forward to the Eliminator," Pandya said during the post-match presentation.
The IPL 2025 Eliminator will be played on Friday, May 30 in Mullanpur. MI will face either the Gujarat Titans (GT) or the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the contest, depending on the result of the final league stage match.