RR vs MI IPL 2025: Hardik Pandya Creates History, Joins Sachin Tendulkar In Elusive List After Win Against Rajasthan

Hardik Pandya created history on Thursday (May 1) by becoming only the third Mumbai Indians captain to guide the franchise to victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Mumbai secured a dominant 100-run win, propelled by a power-packed top-order performance and clinical bowling from Trent Boult and Karn Sharma, both of whom picked up three wickets.

Prior to this match, only two MI skippers had managed to win in Jaipur - Sachin Tendulkar in 2010 and Harbhajan Singh in 2012. Pandya not only joined this elite list but also contributed significantly with both bat and ball.

He smashed an unbeaten 48 off just 23 balls to boost MI's total to 217/2, and later took the key wicket of Shubham Dubey in his only over. Rajasthan Royals were bundled out for just 117 in 16.1 overs, unable to recover from Mumbai's relentless attack.

This victory marked MI's sixth consecutive win in the 2025 season, a remarkable turnaround after losing four of their first five games. The win propelled them to the top of the points table and placed them in a strong position to qualify for the playoffs - potentially even finishing in the top two if their winning momentum continues.

Speaking after the match, Hardik Pandya credited the team's simplified approach for the turnaround. "Everyone is very clear and we are going back to simple cricket, it is working for us and hopefully it continues. We want to be humble, very disciplined and keep focusing," he said at the post-match presentation, as quoted by PTI.

Reflecting on the batting effort, Pandya added: "We could have got another 15 runs. What we were trying to speak to each other was to play percentage shots. Surya and I said there's value for shots... Ro (Rohit) and Ryan batted the same way. I think it was absolutely fantastic. It is never about people getting chances; it's about what is required in the situation. People are going back to batsmanship. As a group, the way we batted was proper batsmanship."

With their form peaking at the right time, Mumbai Indians are emerging as serious contenders for another title run.