Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya admitted his side was “searching for answers” after yet another heavy defeat — a seven-wicket hammering at the hands of Punjab Kings — as the five-time champions slumped to their fourth loss in five matches and remained at ninth in the IPL 2026 points table.Despite a commanding unbeaten 112 from Quinton de Kock powering MI to 195/6, PBKS made light work of the chase, reaching 198/3 in just 16.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run and move to the top of the standings with nine points.‘We need to go back on the drawing board’Speaking after the defeat, Pandya did not hide his frustration as MI’s struggles deepened.“To be very honest, I don’t have much to say right now. I think we really need to go back on the drawing board and see where we are lacking. Is it individuals? Is it as a group? Is it planning? We’ll just figure it out and see what we can do next,” he said.The MI skipper also hinted at potential changes in the coming games, stressing accountability within the group.“No, I think we need to see, do we need to make some difficult calls or do we need to keep continuing and hope that we’ll turn things around. These are some harsh questions which eventually we need to answer and yeah, ownership has to be taken.”Pandya further conceded that PBKS were superior in all departments.“I think we need to give credit to them as well… they just outbeat us. They bowled better, they batted better, they fielded better definitely,” he added.Punjab Kings’ calm dominance continuesPunjab captain Shreyas Iyer praised his side’s composed approach and execution.“Certainly confident and optimistic the way we have been playing. Also we have our heads on our shoulder. I am glad that today we came out and got that victory,” Iyer said.He also highlighted the rise of opener Prabhsimran Singh, who struck a match-winning unbeaten 80 off 39 balls.“He has certainly raised up his bar… this year he has been more mature, match by match he is getting more mature,” Iyer added.Prabhsimran credited his calm mindset for the clinical finish, especially after a slow start.“I was just believing in myself… I thought if I take a little longer, I will be able to play better. So I kept believing in myself,” he said.
