Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya reached a significant milestone in his Indian Premier League (IPL) career on Monday as the dynamic all-rounder featured in his 100th IPL game in the tie against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. He became the seventh player from MI to feat the feat, thus joining an elite club comprising Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, and Ambati Rayudu.

On the big occasion, Hardik Pandya was presented with a special jersey, with '100' written on the back. The shirt was handed over by MI bowling coach and member of that 100-IPL club, Lasith Malinga. It happened after Mumbai Indians managed 179 for nine in 20 overs against Rajasthan in the first innings of the match. As the players stood in a hurdle with Hardik ready to give a pep talk, Malinga made the special gesture.

Photographs were quickly taken as Malinga congratulated Hardik, but just when the MI legend looked to give the all-rounder a hug on the big achievement, the Mumbai Indians skipper seemed to ignore it before the former fast bowler walked away. Here is the video…

This is the third incident in the ongoing IPL 2024 season which indicated that all is not well between Hardik and Malinga amid Mumbai's forgettable run in the tournament so far. Earlier in the season, during MI's 31-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Malinga avoided sitting next to Hardik when batting coach Kieron Pollard offered the captain to sit moments after his dismissal. Malinga stopped Pollard in his act, got up from his chair and walked away. Later in the same game, after MI's defeat, as the players shook hands, Hardik dodged a huge from Malinga and went forward to shake hands with SRH players.

Mumbai as a team have struggled in the IPL 2024 season, having incurred their fifth loss, after Rajasthan Royals scripted a double against the five-time champions with a comfortable nine-wicket win. Yashasvi Jaiswal roared back to form to smash a century, second in his IPL career against Mumbai, as RR chased down the target with 10 balls to spare. MI now stand seventh in the table with three wins in eight games.

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