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During an IPL 2025 match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya and Sai Kishore had an intense staredown after a delivery.
Gujarat Titans spinner Sai Kishore and Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya heated up the IPL 2025 clash between two teams with their intense staredown at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, March 29.
The incident took place in the 15th over of the Mumbai Indians 197-run chase when skipper Hardik Pandya blocked the ball off Sai Kishore’s delivery. After bowling a dot ball, Kishore gave a death stare to Pandya, which agitated the latter and used expletives to express his frustration. The tension between two players escalated after Hardik Pandya charged towards Sai Kishore and both had a brief staredown in the middle of the pitch, intensifying the on-field drama.
Before things between Hardik Pandya and Sai Kishore spiral out of control, the on-field umpires intervened and separated the two in order to diffuse the situation. The video of the same was posted by Star Sports on its X handle (formerly Twitter) and later went viral on social media.
GAME 🔛
Hardik Pandya ⚔ Sai Kishore - teammates then, rivals now! 👀🔥
Watch the LIVE action ➡ https://t.co/VU1zRx9cWp 👉 | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, & JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/2p1SMHQdqc
After Gujarat Titans registered their first win of the IPL 2025 with a 36-run victory over Mumbai Indians,, Hardik Pandya and Sai Kishore shared a warm embrace during customary post-match handshakes, putting on-field alteration behind them. The two were smiling, with Hardik giving a tight hug to Kishore. The video of the same was posted by Indian Premier League (IPL) on its X handle (formerly Twitter).
Thrilling the home crowd with a performance to cherish 🤩
Gujarat Titans get their 2025 campaign off the mark 💪
Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/lDF4SwnuVR | pic.twitter.com/iy60R0cOwZ
Talking about the incident after the match, Kishore stated that Hardik is a good friend of his and they don't take things personally whatever happens on the field.
"He (Hardik) is a good friend of mine, inside the field it should be like that, but we don't take things personally." Sai Kishore told Star Sports.
Mumbai Indians had a disappointing start to their IPL 2025 campaign as they lost the first two matches. The five-time IPL champions lost their opening match to Chennai Super Kings by four wickets at Chepauk. The side was led by Suryakumar Yadav as Hardik Pandya was serving a match-ban from IPL 2024 due to slow over-rate offences.
Despite Hardik Pandya returning to lead Mumbai Indians, the team’s fortunes did not change as they lost to hosts Gujarat Titans. With a target of 197, MI were restricted to 160/6 in 20 overs. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav played valiant innings of 39 and 48, respectively, but their efforts went in vain.
In the IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians had a disappointing outing as they finished at the bottom of the points table and they were the first to be knocked out of the tournament.
Mumbai Indians will look to turn around when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in their first home match of the season at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 31, Monday.
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