Hardik Pandya on Tuesday broke his silence amid the criticism on his captaincy and the boos from the spectators after Mumbai Indians recorded a disastrous start to the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), losing all their first three matches. Hardik’s comment came after Mumbai lost their first game at home this season, against Rajasthan Royals by six wickets to languish to the bottom of the points table.

Mumbai kicked off their campaign against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, which marked the homecoming for Hardik for the first time since he was traded for the 2022 champion side to MI last November. The five-time winners lost by six runs in the thriller at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

In their second game, Mumbai were smashed for a record 277 runs by Sunrisers Hyderabad, where three batters – Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen notched up their respective fifties. The visitors at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium did threaten to chase down the target, but the disciplined bowling from the SRH attack in the death overs, Mumbai were restricted to 246 for five.

On Monday, in Mumbai’s first game at home, the hosts put on a horrid batting show before Riyan Parag single-handedly chased down the target with his unbeaten 54 as Rajasthan wrapped up the match with 27 balls to spare.