It was the second successive season - the only two they have been part of since becoming one of two new teams, Gujarat Titans the other, in 2022 - where LSG have been knocked out in the Eliminator, having gone down to Royal Challengers Bangalore last year.

"We were in a really good position," Krunal, who took over the captaincy after an injury ruled KL Rahul out, said in the post-match presentation ceremony. "Everything started where I played that shot that was not on and I completely take full responsibility."

"At that situation, we should have played better cricket," Krunal said. "The shot I played was not on and I completely take all the blame for where we ended up."

Akash Madhwal was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up five wickets for just five runs and hastening LSG's slide. Three run-outs - all, incidentally, involving Deepak Hooda - didn't help either.

"The wicket was not bad, the ball was coming nicely on the bat," Krunal said. "It remained the same in the second innings as well. We just had to bat better and take responsibility to play good cricket, but we didn't do that after the break."

"It's always a tough decision. Quinton de Kock is a quality player, he is a world-class batter," he said. "Kyle had a better record over here and it was a tough decision but we felt we can go with Kyle at that time."

Much before all that, LSG opened their bowling with Krunal himself and K Gowtham, and Krunal explained that he wanted to deny the Mumbai top-order batters the extra pace upfront. However, the move didn't really work as Mumbai raced to 29 for no loss in the first three overs - two of those bowled by Krunal - and 62 for 2 in the powerplay.

"Their batters bat really well to the fast bowler," he said. "So I thought we can try something different and start with the spinners and then take it from there."