Following his side’s six-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Akash Madhwal said the team environment is excellent and both skipper Hardik Pandya and former captain Rohit Sharma are supportive. Riyan Parag blitzkrieg left the Mumbai Indians (MI) bamboozled as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) sailed to their third consecutive win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with a six-wicket triumph over the five-time champions on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium.

Following the match, Madhwal spoke to the media about the environment within the team, sitting out of the playing eleven for the first two matches and what was the mindset of the bowling attack after the team was reduced to just 125/9 after being put to bat first by Rajasthan Royals.

Speaking on the support received from the team and the overall atmosphere, Madhwal said as quoted by MI’s official website, “The team environment is excellent. Both (Rohit and Hardik) are supportive, and I spoke to Hardik and Rohit in the practice match. (Jasprit) Bumrah bhai was also there. We should do better in the coming games.”

Questioned about not being included in the team for the first two games, Madhwal said that the game should be played for the team rather than individual reasons.

“The combinations for the first two games were good in their own right, as world-class bowlers constantly compete for a place in the team,” he said.

Madhwal made his IPL debut last season, taking 14 wickets in eight matches at an average of 15.64, with the best bowling figures of 5/5 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the eliminator match.

The pacer said that during the innings break following a disastrous performance with the bat, the team discussed that they should grab as many wickets as possible to put pressure back on the opposition.

“Even in the strategic timeout, we discussed sticking to the plan and taking 2-3 wickets to gain the upper hand,” he added.

“The way the wicket was, we had to get the basics right. We had to bowl wicket-to-wicket. What we had planned, all of our bowlers followed it. We had planned to get the basics right and bowl wicket-to-wicket because the pitch also helped fast bowlers,” Madhwal added.

Coming to the match, after winning the toss, RR opted to bowl first. Trent Boult (3/22) destroyed the MI top-order in the powerplay, reducing them to 20/4. A 56-run partnership between skipper Hardik Pandya (34 in 21 balls, with six fours) and Tilak Varma (32 in 29 balls, with two sixes) brought some order into the innings briefly before MI experienced a collapse again to end at 125/9 in 20 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal (3/11) and Nandre Burger (2/32) bowled really well for RR and rocked the MI batting line-up with regular wickets, never giving them a chance to breathe.

In the run chase, RR lost openers Jos Buttler (13), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) while skipper Sanju Samson could make only 12 in 10 balls. Reduced to 48/3, they were in a tricky situation. But Riyan Parag once again performed a brilliant rescue act, scoring 54* in 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes to take his side to a six wicket win with 27 balls left.

Akash Madhwal (3/20) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.

Boult took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Rajasthan is at the top of the points table with three wins in three matches, giving them a total of six points. Mumbai is at the bottom on the other hand, having lost all their three games so far.