"MI targetted their main bowlers"- Murali Kartik on RCB's failure to defend 200 against MI in IPL 2023 

Former Indian cricketer Murali Kartik feels the Mumbai Indians (MI) trumped the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by counter-attacking their best bowlers, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood.

Opener Ishan Kishan flew off the box, scoring 42 runs off 20 balls and gave Mumbai the start they needed in the chase. Although star spinner Wanindu Hasaranga picked up two wickets in his first over, he was taken down by Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera in the remainder of his spell.

Speaking to Cricbuzz after the game, here's what Murali Kartik had to say about RCB's bowling:

"They targeted their main bowlers. Look at Siraj and Hazelwood's figures. Hasaranga gave away those many runs in four overs which you see given in ten overs. So that's absolute domination. So if you are taken down like this on a good wicket, you're in deep trouble."

Although the Royal Challengers Bangalore had to face a crushing defeat, Murali Kartik believes they need to pick themselves up and try and win their remaining three games to reach 16 points and give themselves best chance of qualification.

On this, Kartik added:

"(On RCB's chances of playoffs) Nothing can be said because a win takes you up the table and a loss brings you down. So it will be important to see how they make a comeback from this. They need to forget this and try and win their three games. Who knows, some other team could slip up."

---

This is a statement win from MI: Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik has been impressed with how MI have peaked just at the right time. He feels that them scoring 200+ runs consistently despite no massive contributions from captain Rohit Sharma speaks volumes about their batting strength.

On this, Kartik stated:

"Initially we all were saying when they were losing games that their top three aren't firing. But look at it now and you see Tilak is yet to come back. How will they drop Nehal then? Rohit despite not scoring enough runs, they were winning convincingly with 4-5 overs to spare in 200 chases. These are statement wins."

Mumbai Indians will face a stern test against the Gujarat Titans on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium.