Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya and Gujarat Titans bowler R Sai Kishore were seen in a bit of confrontation during the teams' clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Hardik and Sai Kishore stared at each other as things seemingly heated up for a brief time in their clash on Saturday, March 29.
Mumbai Indians opted to bowl first and were chasing 197 on a two-paced pitch. The incident between Hardik and Kishore took place in the 15th over of the second innings when the bowler was delivering his final over with Mumbai in all sorts of trouble.
MI needed 85 from the last 36 balls, with the required rate having gone past 14. Sai Kishore, who was tight with his bowling lines, looked to keep his discipline intact. Hardik smartly paddled the bowler for a four before he advanced in front to defend the fourth one from Kishore. The two looked at each other before Hardik mouthed a few words and gestured to go back. The bowler gave him a stare as Hardik then charged towards him before the umpires intervened to settle things.
Watch the video here:
Notably, after the match ended, the two players hugged each other as they were all smiles, putting back what had happened during the game.
MI were asked to chase 197 after Sai Sudharsan scored a strong 41-ball 63. He anchored the innings and kept the scoreboard ticking, while he was accompanied well by Shubman Gill (38 from 27 balls) and Jos Buttler (39 from 24 balls).
MI won the toss and opted to bowl first. "We'll bowl first. The simple reason is we don't know how the pitch will play, plus the dew factor. Only last year we played on black soil, otherwise we have been playing on red soil. Last year, we had the game under wraps but couldn't finish it. The prep has been fantastic, the boys are excited and we back each other, be there for each other. Very happy stage. I come back, and the others we are keeping the options open. Always about playing good cricket, planning right and enjoying the game," MI captain Hardik said at the toss.
"Batted first plenty of times here, so nothing changes for us. It is all about assessing the conditions and seeing what target we can set, and if we are chasing it is about how to get to that target. Plenty of positives from the last game, we just got slow in the middle and that post us, but still we managed to score about 200 runs in 14 overs.
"We have got the same team, might see one change with the impact sub. (On opening with Sai Sudharsan) We want to have a lefty - righty combination, and Jos has been playing at 3 for England, so nothing changes for him," GT skipper Gill said at the toss.
Gujarat Titans' Playing XI: Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Mumbai Indians' Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Satyanarayana Raju