Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 20 : Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya lauded Tilak Varma's match-winning century and praised his team's all-round effort after their dominant 99-run victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2026.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Pandya emphasised the importance of the victory in the context of MI's campaign, highlighting both individual brilliance and collective execution.
"Very important. It is always challenging to go away and win. Also, Ahmedabad has not been a happy ground for the Mumbai Indians, so very satisfying," Pandya said.
A major highlight of the match was Tilak Varma's maiden IPL century, which anchored MI's total of 199/5. The MI skipper reserved special praise for the young batter, saying the knock was both timely and impactful for the team.
"The talent Tilak has, he does not need much advice. It was about time he came and delivered. It was much needed for the group, for Tilak and the Mumbai Indians," MI skipper added.
Pandya also addressed discussions around Jasprit Bumrah and the new ball.
"Quite fascinating, I have seen many people asking why Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) hasn't bowled with the new ball, but he hasn't bowled with the new ball maybe 7 or 8 times, so it is not a Hardik Pandya problem, it is Jassi being special," he said.
Hardik further stressed that the team's bowling strategy was based on executing plans in the right areas with intent, which worked effectively against Gujarat.
"It was about bowling in the right areas and bowling with the right intent," Pandya noted.
The MI skipper also praised the younger players for stepping up in the fielding department, while making a special mention of Naman Dhir for his contribution.
"Really amazing by the youngsters, so fielding had to click, special mention to Naman as well," he added.
MI delivered a dominant all-round performance to defeat Gujarat by 99 runs in IPL 2026. Batting first, MI posted 199/5, powered by a brilliant maiden IPL century from Tilak Varma, who scored an unbeaten 101 off 45 balls. Despite early wickets, MI recovered strongly in the death overs.
In reply, Gujarat never got going as they suffered a dramatic top-order collapse, losing Sai Sudharsan for a golden duck and slipping to 45/3 inside six overs.
The innings further crumbled as Ashwani Kumar (4/24), Mitchell Santner (2/16), and AM Ghazanfar (2/17) ran through the batting lineup, bundling Gujarat out for 100.
With this win, Mumbai moved up to seventh place on the IPL 2026 points table, having secured two wins against four defeats from six matches. The five-time champions now have four points, with a Net Run Rate of +0.067.
On the other hand, Gujarat slipped to sixth position with three wins and three losses from six games. They remain on six points, but their net run rate stands at -0.821.
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