Ravichandran AshwinA detailed breakdown of the strategy was presented. Mumbai Indians‘IPL 2026’s 18-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium, along with a question mark Hardik PandyaCaptaincy decisions during key stages of the chase.A key point in Ashwin’s analysis was MI’s decision to introduce the spinner. Mayank Markande Initial against Rajat Patidara move he felt played directly into the RCB captain’s strengths. Patidar, who scored a crucial 53 off just 20 balls, was particularly dominant against spin, shifting momentum during the decisive middle overs.
Ashwin also revisited Patidar’s past success against Markande in the first SRH vs RCB clash in 2024 to illustrate his point about the matchup.“It’s not today’s scorecard, it’s the SRH vs RCB 2024 match where Rajat declared that he is a spin hitter. He hit Mayank Markande all over the ground,” he said. on his YouTube channel, citing the previous IPL 2024 clash to highlight Rajat Patidar’s dominance against spin.“What’s common here is that Rajat hit Markande for sixes in that game too, and he did the same in this game. The thing is, Rajat Patidar is a monster hitter against spin. When he came in, you brought Markande straight in, and that’s very average captaincy. Markande scored 40 in 2 overs,” he added. said on his YouTube channel.In his breakdown, Ashwin suggested that MI’s strategy allowed Patidar to sit at the crease immediately. Once he got going, Patidar quickly changed gears, hitting a hat-trick of sixes early in his innings and later racing to a 17-ball fifty, ensuring that RCB kept up the scoring momentum even after losing Phil Salt. Virat Kohli.The match itself was a high-scoring thriller. RCB posted a commanding 240/4, built on an opening stand of 120 runs between Phil Salt (78 off 36) and Virat Kohli (50 off 38), followed by a 20-ball 53 from Patidar and a late flourish from Tim David. Mi replied sternly. Rohit Sharma And Ryan Rickleton was injured before Rohit retired, while Surya Kumar Yadav And Hardik Pandya kept them in the hunt.However, despite Sherfan Rutherford’s unbeaten 71 off 31 balls in the death overs, MI were reduced to 222/5, losing by 18 runs.Ashwin concluded that Patidar’s attack on Markande was the turning point, saying that MI’s inconsistency in the match allowed RCB to take control of the contest in the middle overs.
