IPL 2021: Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya display great sportsmanship in MI vs PBKS game

With a place in the top four at stake, the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings locked horns in match 42 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday (September 28) evening. As the playoff race is heating up, tempers are flaring among the players with a couple of incidents taking place in the last few matches. However, in MI vs PBKS game, there was a moment for once when Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya displayed great sportsmanship.

The incident took place in the 6th over of Punjab’s innings when Krunal Pandya was bowling. Chris Gayle smacked the last ball of the over straight down the ground only for KL Rahul to come in the middle. The ball hit the Punjab skipper and went to Krunal who ran him out at the non-strikers’ end.

However, the left-arm spinner was quick to withdraw his appeal and also asking his skipper Rohit Sharma to not take the matters upstairs. It was a spirit of cricket moment in a tournament where the stakes are so high with MI being in a must-win situation. Also, it was a wicket of match-winner KL Rahul who could’ve hurt the five-time champions with a big score.

Even Rahul was impressed with the gesture from MI skipper and he gave a thumbs up to Rohit after the over ended with the latter giving him back a gentle smile. The fans were also impressed and Krunal and Rohit certainly won hearts with their actions on the day.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/7YsM7OyL4w

— Simran (@CowCorner9) September 28, 2021

KL Rahul scored only 21 runs

However, it wasn’t the day for KL Rahul to play his usual big knock against MI. He was dismissed the very next over by Kieron Pollard for only 21 runs off 22 balls as PBKS sunk further in the innings. They had already lost Chris Gayle earlier in the over and the slump continued with Jasprit Bumrah getting better of Nicholas Pooran in the next over again.

While MI continued to do well on the field, the sportsmanship shown by Rohit and Krunal earlier in the innings started trending on social media.

Here are some of the reactions:

Krunal Pandya rejects his appeal of dismissing KL Rahul. pic.twitter.com/EEd3Fv7o6t

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 28, 2021

Grand gesture from the most unlikeliest of the sources. Way to go Krunal Pandya. #Krunal #MIvPBKS #IPL2O21

— Simbly Waste (@HalooOffTheTV) September 28, 2021

Great sportsmanship from Krunal and Rohit! #MIvsPBKS #MI #RohitSharma #Krunalpandya

— Dipen Sharma (@dipensharma1105) September 28, 2021

Good Sportsman Spirit From Krunal Pandya pic.twitter.com/BgBgcaVUJG

— A N K I T (@Ankitaker) September 28, 2021

Now that's called sportsman spirit!! @mipaltan @ImRo45 @krunalpandya24 #MIvPBKS

— Arun (CSK 💛) 🇮🇳🇺🇲 (@hqtrivia18) September 28, 2021

I am happy to see the sportsmanship between krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma with KL rahul. #PBKS #MIvPBKS

— Manavdeep singh (@cricCrazyManav) September 28, 2021

Krunal Pandya making sure KL Rahul is there at the crease till the end.#MIvPBKS #iplwin

— GOD (@Voice_of__God) September 28, 2021

Krunal Pandya rejects his appeal of dismissing KL Rahul. pic.twitter.com/MnY1OxI5pc

— Sk kajla (@Skkajla2) September 28, 2021

Krunal Pandya bringing Fair Play Award for MI #Sportsmanship #Krunal #MIvPBKS pic.twitter.com/1Gaa5thVgb

— Xavier Pro Max (@XavierProMaxx) September 28, 2021

Nice gesture Krunal Pandya 👏👏👏🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/kStqEUZAJm

— B R M 🦁 (@clairvoyant023) September 28, 2021

Well done, KL Rahul. After Krunal and #MI withdraw the appeal a good gesture by KL to Rohit. pic.twitter.com/OVXvKuYEdX

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 28, 2021

Thumbs up from KL Rahul to Rohit Sharma after Rohit decided to withdraw the appeal of the run out. pic.twitter.com/aEsFcyCiEt

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 28, 2021

Sportsmanship spirit from Krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma.

— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) September 28, 2021