“The manner we bowled to Shardul was incorrect,” says Mike Hesson of Bangalore’s humiliating loss to Kolkata Knight Riders.

Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the ninth match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). First to bat, Kolkata got off to a solid start as Rahmanullah Gurbaz compiled a tenacious fifty.

However, it was Shardul Thakur’s blow that ignited the stage. The 31-year-old scored 68 runs in 29 deliveries and played a crucial role in Kolkata’s first innings total of 204 runs.

Director of Cricket for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mike Hesson, commented on how the visitors could have bowled Shardul more effectively.

“I believe that the manner we bowled to Shardul was improper. In terms of what we discussed and what we were able to accomplish. This gave them some momentum, and once he gained momentum and confidence, he was more difficult to bowl to. Last game we were excellent with the ball, but today we were a touch off “On the RCB Match Review, Mike Hesson expressed the following.

We anticipated Narine and Chakravarthy to be challenging: Hesson
Bangalore, batting in the second innings, hoped to reproduce its performance from the previous match against Mumbai. Both Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis appeared to be in good form, but the hosts’ spin attack ultimately proved too much to manage.

Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and Suyash Sharma made their presence felt by taking the majority of wickets from a Bangalore team that was already ailing. Mike Hesson evaluated Bangalore’s performance during the run chase and concluded that they were aware of the threat posed by the spinners.

“Overall, we knew that Narine and Chakravarthy would be difficult on that pitch, and we had two solid hitters, but we kept getting defeated on the inside. As they predominantly bowl googlies, this is undoubtedly something we are aware of “Hesson said.