‘The way we bowled to Shardul was not right’ - Mike Hesson opens up on Bangalore’s embarrassing defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders

The ninth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 saw Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Coming in to bat first, Kolkata got off to a decent start as Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a resilient half-century.

However, it was the knock of Shardul Thakur that set the stage on fire. The 31-year-old scored 68 runs in 29 deliveries and was integral for Kolkata, who posted 204 runs on the board after the first innings.

Speaking about the same, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director of Cricket Mike Hesson came forward to reflect on the visitor’s performance and how they could have done better in bowling to Shardul.

"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," Mike Hesson said on the RCB Match Review.

We knew that Narine and Chakravarthy were going to be hard work: Hesson

Coming to bat in the second innings, Bangalore looked for a repeat of their performances from the previous game against Mumbai. Both Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis looked to be in good form, but the spin attack of the hosts proved to be too hot to handle in the end.

Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and Suyash Sharma made their presence felt as they took most of the wickets from an already struggling Bangalore side. Mike Hesson reflected on Bangalore’s performance during the run chase and opined that they were aware of the threat that the spinners would pose.

"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," Hesson said.