Delhi: On Friday, 30 May, that is, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Eliminator played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh, faced Gujarat Titans (GT) from Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Eliminator match of 2025. In this important match, Sri Lankan wicketkeeper batsman Kusal Mendis was included in the team in place of Jose Butler, but his performance was very disappointing. Mendis became the first foreign player to debut in the IPL playoffs.
Mendis’s poor game on the field!
Gujarat decided to bowl first, but Mendis left two important catches behind the wicket, giving Mumbai’s star batsmen Rohit Sharma (81) and Suryakumar Yadav (33) life. Both these drop catchs proved to be decisive in the results of the match. His troubles did not end here – he could not do anything special even in batting.
Mendis failed with bat also
After the early dismissal of Shubman Gill, Mendis came to the crease, but he appeared under pressure. Mendis, who was already facing mental pressure due to the mistakes made in fielding, ‘hit wicket’ off Mitchell Santner. His leg collided with stumps and he returned to the pavilion after scoring 20 runs in 10 balls. However, he definitely hit two sixes.
Mumbai Indians’s banging innings
Batting first, Mumbai Indians made a strong start to Rohit’s brilliant 81 -run innings and Johnny Bairstow’s fast 47 runs. Suryakumar Yadav contributed 33, Tilak Verma 25 and Hardik Pandya contributed 22 unbeaten 22 runs, making Mumbai score a huge score of 228 runs.
Famous Krishna and Sai Sudarshan took two wickets each from Gujarat Titans, while Mohammad Siraj took one wicket. Gujarat had to achieve a big target of 229 runs to confront Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2 and to stay in the title race, but lost by 20 runs and was ruled out of IPL 2025.
Now the question arises whether the poor performance of Kusal Mendis became a major reason for Gujarat’s defeat.
Mendis performs in Pakistan Super League
Earlier, Mendis played his last T20 match on 7 May and did not get a chance to bat for Quetta Gladiators in his last three innings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He reached the IPL after playing in Pakistan. However, he is Sri Lankan.
Mendis scored 143 runs in the entire PSL season, an average of 35.75 and the strike rate was also 35.75. However, his record at the international level has not been special. Mendis has so far scored 1920 runs in 78 T20 international matches. His average has been 25.60 and he has scored 15 half -centuries.
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(Tagstotranslate) GT vs Mi (T) IPL 2025 (T) Kusal Mendis