Kamal Ghorui
Already out of the playoffs race, Mumbai Indians defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets in their IPL 2026 match in Dharamsala on Thursday. While MI had nothing to lose, the defeat left Punjab staring at a difficult road in the race for the top four as they suffered their fifth straight loss.After the match, Mumbai Indians pacer Shardul Thakur made a remark that quickly went viral on social media, while speaking about his record against Punjab over the years.In a video shared by Mumbai Indians on social media, a person asked Shardul about his performances against Punjab while playing for different franchises.“You have taken so many wickets against Punjab,” the person said.To this, Shardul replied, “I was kept out and sent home. It’s rage!”Shardul had another strong outing against Punjab on Thursday, finishing with figures of 4 for 39. His spell helped Mumbai pull things back after Punjab made a solid start.Punjab eventually posted 200 for 8 after being asked to bat first. Prabhsimran Singh scored 57, while Priyansh Arya made 27. Shardul dismissed Prabhsimran and skipper Shreyas Iyer in the same spell to put Punjab under pressure.Deepak Chahar (2/36), Corbin Bosch (1/42) and Raj Bawa (1/11) were the other wicket-takers for MI.In reply, Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 75 off 33 balls as Mumbai chased down the target of 201 with one ball to spare. Will Jacks stayed not out on 25 off 10 balls as MI reached 205 for 4 in 19.5 overs. For Punjab, Azmatullah Omarzai picked up 2 for 36.Shardul’s comment appeared to refer to his time with Kings XI Punjab, now called Punjab Kings.The fast bowler was bought by the franchise in the 2014 IPL auction and remained with them for three seasons. However, he played only one match during that period, against Delhi Daredevils in 2015.During the 2016 IPL season, Punjab released him midway through the tournament. At that time, Shardul had just finished as Mumbai’s highest wicket-taker in their 2015-16 Ranji Trophy-winning season.A frustrated Shardul had then posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Will play a semifinal t20 game tomorrow for my club payyade sc..playing a game after 2 months..ipl has done wonders .. Certainly”.
