After winning their opening encounter for the first time since 2012, MI have been given a brutal reality check as they have now lost their third consecutive match in IPL 2026. While the previous two games were away games, last night’s blockbuster was at home at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Fortress Mumbai has been breached for the first time this season, and by RCB for the second consecutive season. MI had their moments against RCB, who won their third game in 4 matches, but they lost the plot in bowling mainly.
The batting is also a little concern, but more of it is in the bowling department, as teams have neutralised Bumrah and seen him off while targeting other bowlers. Bowling is the reason why they are languishing in 8th place now, just ahead of CSK and KKR. There were areas where MI were found wanting, and we will list out three reasons for their loss to RCB in Mumbai.
Failure to stop the opening partnership beyond 10 overs exposes MI
It was MI who won the toss and opted to bowl first on a flat track in Mumbai. The Men in Blue would have hoped for early wickets to put RCB under pressure, but it was anything but that. It was the Phil Salt show with Virat Kohli playing second fiddle to him. Kohli played his shots initially to allow Salt to get in, and once Salt exploded, Virat was happy to play the role of an anchor and hold one end up as the scoreboard kept ticking. The power play score was a healthy 71/0 in 6 overs.
But Salt and Kohli did not stop there and continued to attack the MI bowling as they knew they would require a bigger total on this track. Salt was unstoppable. After enduring a golden duck, he was in full flow. MI did not know what hit them, and the bowlers dished out some rubbish stuff which played into RCB’s hands. Jasprit Bumrah is wicketless, but he still tried to keep things under check. Hardik Pandya bowled a tad better, but the others went the distance.
MI needs to find a way to get early wickets in powerplay overs to make things easier for them. At the moment, they are leaking runs and failing to get wickets to put pressure on the opposition. This was not the first time, as against RR, they also leaked runs. So, MI have to look at things differently and find out ways to get wickets. Because at this stage of the game, none of them looks like taking wickets. MI will hope to fix this issue as soon as possible before it becomes a tad too late in the tournament.
Unable to stop the marauding Rajat Patidar in the middle phase, dented MI’s chances
After the 120-run opening stand, Phil Salt fell for 78 off 36 balls to Shardul Thakur, and MI would have hoped for some relief from RCB batters. But relief was never a chance with RCB going all guns blazing. The change in batting order worked wonders as Rajat Patidar, the captain, came out at 3 and just kept the momentum going after Salt’s dismissal. Not only was the momentum kept, but RCB increased their run rate.
Patidar just smashed the MI bowlers to all parts in that phase between overs 11-15. It did not matter who he faced. It helped that Hardik, as captain, used a spinner against Rajat. Rajat bashes spin, and Mayank Markande was torn to pieces by the RCB captain. Mitchell Santner was also taken to the cleaners as well. There was no planning in the field setting and bowling from the MI bowlers, as RCB just went on scoring and posting a huge total. MI has to find a way to make this bowling work. It is a good bowling side on paper, but not in performance.
Going ahead, MI has to improve its bowling by leaps and bounds. The domination in powerplay and middle overs meant that RCB got 240 on the board despite a mini comeback by MI in the death overs. The bowling cannot concede 240 in 20 overs or say 150 in 11 overs. It is just not on. They have to pull up their socks and hope Bumrah gets wickets. More than Bumrah, it is the performance of other bowlers like Trent Boult & Co that is the major area of concern. One hopes that MI finds a solution to its problems.
Underperformance of Suryakumar Yadav & Tilak Varma continues to hurt MI in big chases
As if chasing 241 was not enough, MI needed a perfect run chase and everyone to fire in unison. While Ryan Rickelton showed early promise with his 37 off 22 balls, his opening partner Rohit Sharma retired hurt on 19 off 13 balls. The main concern for MI here is the form of Tilak Varma. Tilak came when Ryan got out to Suyash Sharma. Tilak came, saw and then left the crease, and people did not even realise that. Such was his presence on the field as the left-hander made 1 off 3 balls.
Coming to Surya, he got a start and scored 33 off 22 balls, but needed to go a bit harder. Surya and Hardik came together to take the innings forward, but Surya was taking singles while Hardik was doing the heavy lifting. The partnership was decent, and the Men in Blue kept going at over 10 an over. But the duo should have upped the ante earlier and taken the attack to RCB. Surya’s innings in particular left it too much to do for Sherfane Rutherford and the rest.
Rutherford tried his best and stayed unbeaten with 71 off 31 balls, but it was not enough as RCB won by 18 runs. MI needs to get their batting order right as well and improve their batting a little bit. Having said that, they have amassed 222 last night thanks to Rutherford. So, batting has minor tweaking to be done with maybe both Surya and Tilak not playing together and those things. But it’s the bowling that needs serious work for MI.
What Lies Ahead
So, RCB with this win keeps their 3rd place in the table with 3 wins in 4 games. MI slipped to 8th place with only 2 points from 4 games. RCB next faces LSG in Bengaluru on Wednesday before facing DC on Saturday in an afternoon game at the same venue. MI next faces the Punjab Kings in Mumbai on Thursday. Next up in IPL 2026 will be SRH taking on RR later tonight in Hyderabad, where it could be a contest between bat vs bat.
Let’s see what’s in store for us in Hyderabad later tonight.
Also Read: MI vs RCB: Phil Salt’s Blazing Half-Century Helps RCB Consolidate 3rd Place In Points Table