Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Titans to move one step closer to the IPL 2025 Final.
During the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Eliminator, the captains of Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI), Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya, noticeably skipped the customary handshake at the coin toss. After Pandya won the toss, the two paused and exchanged glances but did not greet each other. This led to rumours flying about the differences between the two Indian players.
The speculation stems from Hardik’s departure from GT after leading the franchise to an IPL title in its debut season. He captained the side for another year, guiding them to the final once again. However, in 2024, Hardik returned to his former team, MI, replacing Rohit Sharma as captain. Reports suggest he left without speaking to Gill before his exit from GT.
However, earlier today, Gill brushed off all the chatter by posting an Instagram story with Hardik. The caption read, “Nothing but love. (Don’t believe everything you see on the internet).”
Here is the collage uploaded by Gill.
Shortly after, Hardik reshared Gill’s Instagram story on his account, further clearing any notion of bad blood between the two national teammates.
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After electing to bat first, MI openers took Mullanpur by a storm with their first-wicket partnership of 84 runs. After Jonny Bairstow’s wicket (47 off 22), Rohit Sharma took advantage of his dropped catches. He made a stunning 81 off 50, setting the stage for MI’s victory. Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and the skipper played important cameos to propel MI’s score to 228/5.
In the second innings, MI targeted GT’s usually dependable top order. Shubman Gill was trapped plumb in front for just one run. Kusal Mendis looked dangerous with a quickfire 20 off 10 balls, but Mitchell Santner ended his brief assault. Opener Sai Sudharsan stepped up, stitching a solid partnership with Washington Sundar to steady the innings and put GT in a promising position. However, Sundar fell to a pinpoint yorker from Jasprit Bumrah. Once Sudharsan departed after a fighting 80 off 49 balls, GT’s hopes of a comeback faded.
MI won the match by 20 runs. They will next face Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on June 1. The winner of this match will face the other finalist, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on June 3 at the same venue.
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