Situation demanded me to go all out: Hardik Pandya

During the 34 balls he faced, Hardik Pandya smashed nine sixes and six fours before getting out to Harry Gurney. It was the first time that he had entered the nineties in the IPL.

Chasing a mammoth 233 at the Eden Gardens, MI lost wickets in a heap until Hardik Pandya came and single-handedly kept the team in the hunt by getting his highest IPL score.

Swashbuckling Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who played a blistering 91-run knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture on Sunday, said he couldn’t have done anything else apart from attacking from the word go.

Chasing a mammoth 233 at the Eden Gardens, MI lost wickets in a heap until Pandya came and single-handedly kept the team in the hunt by getting his highest IPL score.

During the 34 balls he faced, Pandya smashed nine sixes and six fours before getting out to Harry Gurney. It was the first time that he had entered the nineties in the IPL.

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“I was just telling Krunal ‘damn I am close to a hundred’ that is something new for me,” said Hardik in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“The situation required me to go all out and I was lucky enough everything was coming out, except the ball I got out to. To be honest, with this kind of total you don’t think much, just go out there and express yourself. I knew (Keiron) Pollard was there, I couldn’t take time and I just wanted to enjoy the game,” he added.

The 25-year-old said it would have been much closer had his brother Krunal stayed with him a little longer during the chase.

“I am just holding my shape pretty well and the confidence makes a huge difference. I knew something different had to happen, but it was difficult for one guy to keep going. If Krunal had got a couple, we would have been in with a chance. My plan was to get close to the total so that the run rate doesn’t get affected,” he said.