Hardik on MI's three no-balls: 'A crime in my eyes'

After a chaotic game, that went down to the last ball, giving both teams a chance to recover from mistakes they made, the Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was the one ruing everything. He felt that more than Tilak Varma's dropped catch off Shubman Gill (on 35, he made 43), the three no-balls - two from him and one from Deepak Chahar in the final over - were a "crime" and they cost them victory.

Hardik bowled two no-balls in the eighth over, which went for 18. But crucially, defending 14 in the final over, Chahar bowled a no-ball at a vital juncture as MI lost a rain-affected thriller against Gujarat Titans in Mumbai.

"The catches didn't really cost us. We were very clinical with that," Hardik said after MI's three-wicket defeat. "Maybe definitely with the no-balls, with my no-ball and even the last (over) no-ball.

"That, in my eyes, indeed it's a crime, and most often than not it kind of bites you. It definitely did to us, but at the same point of time, really happy with the boys giving their 120% and making sure that we are in the game and not giving up."

Sent into bat, MI huffed and puffed their way to 155 for 8, despite a half-century from Will Jacks. They lost 6 for 58 in the last 9.3 overs. But the bowlers brought the team back brilliantly in wet conditions and got praise from the captain.

"It was definitely not a 150 wicket. I think it was a 175 [surface]," Hardik said. "We were definitely short in batting by 20-25 runs or maybe 30 runs if you would have batted well. But I think credit to the bowlers, they kept fighting and they kept bowling at the right areas."

"In the first innings, the ground was not wet. Post that, throughout the whole innings, the ball kept getting wetter. I don't know if it helped us or not helped us, but yeah, it was difficult. Rain kept coming in. It's always not really ideal to have a stoppage and start again and have a stoppage. But the game goes on."

Shubman Gill, meanwhile, said the conditions at the start of GT's chase "felt like a Test match" with the fast bowlers getting plenty of movement. There was a strong wind blowing while the rain made batting hard work.

"The game plans were definitely different when we were playing in the powerplay. There was wind and a little bit of rain and just the atmosphere was such, it felt like a Test match for the first four to five overs," Gill said. "We just had to play proper normal cricket and once the powerplay was over, we thought, now we will try to play our normal game a little bit more. But the rain kept coming in.

"It's not easy in a T20 match, if there is such a long break to be able to come back and start the game."

After a tough powerplay where GT managed just 29 runs, Gill and Jos Buttler settled the nerves with a 72-run second wicket stand. Gill and Sherfane Rutherford also had a quick stand, but GT lost four wickets for 13 runs in 15 balls, which pegged back their momentum and also pushed them behind the DLS par score when the players went off the field at around midnight.

What were the feelings like in the GT camp at that stage?

"A lot of emotions, most of them were frustrating, because at one point we were such ahead in the game," Gill said. "Then, I think, four overs of play, 20 [13] runs for four wickets, it felt like one of those Test match sessions, which don't go your way. That period was quite frustrating, but I think the universe gave us one more chance, and everything worked out well for us."

Gill also heaped praise on Rashid Khan, who finished with figures of 1 for 21, just days after going for 50 runs in three overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

"It's not easy for him coming back from an injury," Gill said. "But the way he's been working hard in the nets and I think the way he bowled today is a great sign for us."