RCB vs MI, IPL 2023: MI Player Ratings as Rohit Sharma and Co. suffer chastening defeat despite Tilak Varma special
The Mumbai Indians (MI) tasted defeat in yet another Indian Premier League (IPL) opener as they fell to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, April 2.
After being inserted into bat, the five-time champions made 171/7 as only one batter, the young Tilak Varma, crossed the 25-run mark. The total was never going to be enough as Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli put on a mammoth opening partnership of 148 to kill the game off.
Here are MI's player ratings from Match 5 of IPL 2023 against RCB.
IPL 2023, RCB vs MI: Tilak Varma turns it on as big-ticket MI batters fail miserably
Not the start we wanted! 😔
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Rohit Sharma: 1/10
Rohit's struggles as both batter and captain in the IPL continued once again. He played a painstaking 10-ball innings that yielded just one run and had a missed chance. The MI skipper trusted his young players, which is something he must be given credit for, but his tactical decisions were on the whole disappointing.
Ishan Kishan: 2/10
Kishan somehow put away two loose deliveries for boundaries, but he too looks totally out of rhythm at the top of the order. The left-hander heaved across the line and got a top edge that was held at third man.
Cameron Green: 3/10
MI's marquee signing couldn't make an impact. Green was castled by an inswinger from Reece Topley for just five runs and his first over was very expensive as well. The Aussie all-rounder did manage to pick up his maiden IPL wicket, that of Dinesh Karthik.
Suryakumar Yadav: 4/10
Suryakumar surprisingly struggled to find his timing in Bangalore, laboring to 15 at almost a run a ball. The batter cut a loose delivery from Michael Bracewell straight to point to leave MI in a heap of trouble. He was substituted out before the chase.
Tilak Varma: 9.5/10
Tilak was the only Mumbai batter to offer any resistance, and what an innings it was! The youngster pulverized the RCB bowlers to all corners of the ground and showed great game awareness. He made an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls that single-handedly handed his team a chance to win the game.
Nehal Wadhera: 6.5/10
Wadhera displayed great courage and spunk on his IPL debut, hammering two huge sixes off Karn Sharma. Although the leg-spinner got his revenge, the 22-year-old is bound to come up with more telling showings this year.
Tim David: 2/10
The big-hitting David came in to bat at the end of the 14th over and perhaps should've been sent in earlier. Karn got through his heave across the line and shattered his stumps.
Hrithik Shokeen: 1/10
Shokeen endured a difficult outing against RCB. He made just five runs and his only over of the game went for 17. Oh, and he also dropped a sitter at deep midwicket.
Mohammad Arshad Khan: 7/10
Arshad played a valuable nine-ball cameo towards the end of MI's innings, showing glimpses of his batting ability by striking a big six over midwicket. He got the new ball to swing into the right-hander and prised out Faf du Plessis but had an economy rate of 12 in the match.
Jofra Archer: 5.5/10
Archer was taken apart by Kohli as Rohit tried to pigeonhole him into the Jasprit Bumrah role. The Englishman's IPL comeback didn't go to plan as he conceded 33 runs in four wicketless overs.
Piyush Chawla: 6.5/10
Chawla was MI's most economical bowler, with his four overs fetching 26 runs. The veteran leg-spinner sent down some potent googlies and bowled a team-high 11 dots.
Jason Behrendorff [impact]: 2/10
Behrendorff didn't have much movement in the air or off the surface to work with and was understandably punished. The left-armer was hammered for 37 runs in his three overs as the RCB batters found it easy to negotiate him.