"I think the way we bowled to Shardul was not right" - Mike Hesson laments RCB's bowling display against KKR in IPL 2023

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) director of cricket Mike Hesson expressed disappointment with the way the bowlers tackled Shardul Thakur in the first innings. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder smashed 68 off 29 deliveries to turn the contest on its head.

RCB bowlers, much like during their season opener against the Mumbai Indians (MI), lost the plot in the second half of the innings. KKR were reeling at 89-5 in the 12th over after the departure of Andre Russell for a golden duck.

However, Thakur's heroics at Eden Gardens helped the hosts post a daunting 204-7 on the board.

Speaking about his team's bowling performance in Kolkata, Hesson said on RCB Match Review:

"I think the way we bowled to Shardul was not right. In terms of what we talked about and what we were able to execute. That gave them a little bit of momentum and once he got some momentum and confidence, he was harder to bowl to. We were very good with the ball last game, but today we were a bit off."

During the run chase, RCB openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis led the team to a rather solid start but had no say whatsoever once spin was introduced into the attack.

The KKR spinners were responsible for taking nine wickets, with Varun Chakravarthy being the pick among the bowlers with figures of 4-15.

Outlining that the franchise had already singled out Sunil Narine and Chakravarthy as major threats, Hesson said:

"All in all, we knew that Narine and Chakravarthy were going to be hard work, on that surface, and we had two set batters but unfortunately we kept getting beaten on the inside. So, that is certainly something that we are aware of, because they predominantly bowl googlies."

Debutant leg-spinner Suyash Sharma also made his presence felt with three wickets.

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"We were probably chasing 35 more than we wanted to" - Mike Hesson

Even during the initial stages of Thakur's onslaught, RCB had the cushion of getting KKR bowled out for a par score.

Things, however, quickly got out of hand and RCB were left with a daunting target on a surface that had something in it for the bowlers.

Noting that RCB succumbed to scoreboard pressure during the run chase, Hesson said:

"Lie at the end of any game, we need to reflect on things that we did well and Willey was exceptional today, Karn Sharma played nicely, but outside of that, we were soundly beaten. From a batting point of view, we were probably chasing 35 more than we wanted to and that created its own pressure. So yeah, plenty to work on."

RCB are next scheduled to take on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday, April 10.