Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik questioned Mumbai Indians’ bowling plans after they suffered a four-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the ongoing IPL 2026 on Wednesday.
Kartik reckons Hardik Pandya should have given the sixth over of the Powerplay overs to either Allah Ghazanfar or Jasprit Bumrah. The former left-arm spinner highlighted that Corbin Bosch and Raghu Sharma collectively conceded 53 runs in five overs they bowled, which is on the high side in a low-scoring game.
MI could only manage 147 runs on the board on a challenging wicket and KKR were able to get over the line after Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell scored 45 and 40 runs respectively.
“MI could have done things a bit differently. They brought in Allah Ghazanfar after the powerplay. If you look at the scorecard, Raghu Sharma gave 23 runs in 2 overs on this wicket, and Corbin Bosch also gave away 30 runs. So, you leaked 53 runs in five overs here. It matters a lot in a low-scoring game. Will Jacks came onto bowl when there was nothing left in the game. It is important as a unit to know how can you create pressure. I think either Allah Ghazanfar or Jasprit Bumrah should have bowled the sixth over, because you needed a wicket there. So, I think that was a mistake,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, former Indian batter Manoj Tiwary said MI should have included more spin options in their playing XI. The former Bengal cricketer reckons Tilak Varma could have bowled better than Will Jacks.
“It always felt like they were a spinner short. From KKR’s side they had Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine and Anukul Roy. But for MI, you had get Will Jacks to bowl. Will Jacks does bowl for England and has done well in the World Cup. But if you take a look at the MI camp, there are bowlers waiting on the bench. There is Mayank Markande, they could even have got Tilak Varma to bowl. He can maybe even bowl better than Will Jacks,” he said.
Mumbai Indians will play their last league stage match against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
