WATCH: Akash Ambani walks off mid-match, asks crowd to leave amid MI’s horror batting display

by

New Delhi: Such was the performance of the Mumbai Indians on Thursday that the franchise owner, Akash Ambani, couldn’t bear to watch the full match and walked off in the midst of MI’s innings.

In one of the most abject batting displays of all time, MI surrendered against fellow five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), folding for 104 in chase of a 208-run target.

Barring Suryakumar Yadav (36) and Tilak Varma (37), no other batter reached double digits as the hosts suffered a collapse of epic proportions, either side of the 73-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Tilak and Surya.

The hosts lost their first three wickets for just 11 runs and the last seven for 20 runs to suffer their biggest IPL defeat in terms of runs.

From champions to pretenders: MI’s downfall

The surrender at Wankhede was painful to watch for the MI faithful and even more for Akash Ambani, who couldn’t witness the plight of the joint-most successful franchise in IPL history. For a person who has witnessed unprecedented success from 2013 to 2020, watching first the gradual and then a steep decline of MI was unbearable.

MI never looked to be in the hunt while chasing. The 70+stand between Tilak and Surya only delayed the inevitable. As soon as the partnership broke, Akash had seen enough.

Dejected and embarrassed by his team’s performance, he got out of his seat and left the stadium in a hurry and did not even look at the players sitting in the dugout. Not only that, he urged the crowd to save themselves from the torture and leave the stadium early.

WATCH: Akash Ambani leaves the stadium in the middle of the match, urges crowd to leave

The shocking batting display left MI’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread. With five losses in seven games, MI need to win all their remaining seven fixtures to remain in contention for the top four, a feat that looks impossible for a team that looks disjointed and out of depth.