It was a case of so near yet so far for the 5-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) as they went down fighting against 3-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as the Men in Blue suffered their 9th defeat this season. On the contrary, KKR won their 6th game in their last 7 games. The turnaround has been terrific for the Men in Purple, and they have kept their hopes alive for the playoffs for now. MI, who are already eliminated, had their moments. They fought hard but came second best.
We will try to decipher the reasons for their loss to KKR last night at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Losing 4 wickets inside the power play pushed MI on the back foot
MI were asked to bat first on a pitch that was under covers and hence challenging. MI had to adapt their style on this pitch, but they unfortunately couldn’t really do it. Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma came out and played a few shots before Rickelton gave his wicket away to a poor shot, with KKR holding onto their catches. Thereafter, Naman Dhir came and went in 3 balls as Cameron Green had two wickets in the over.
Rohit and Suryakumar were at the crease, and fans might have expected a fightback from these senior pros. But it was anything but that. Rohit hit a couple of sixes, but going for another big one, he miscued and was caught brilliantly by Cameron Green. Tilak Varma came and joined Surya in the middle. Surya played some outstanding shots, but in the last over of power play, he dragged one back onto the stumps as MI were 4 down with two of their senior pros back in the hut. They were 46/4 in 6 overs and were always on the back foot after that.
They did recover and got to 147 in the end, thanks mainly to Corbin Bosch, but it was a below-par total by maybe 20 odd runs on that pitch. KKR chased it down in the 19th over. If we look at the dismissals, some were to good balls by KKR, and their execution was perfect. But some were ordinary shots, not assessing the conditions and looking to take the game on, but perishing in the process. They will want to look at this area before their last game on Sunday afternoon against RR.
Tilak Varma’s sluggish 20 off 32 balls did not help the cause either
A lot was expected from Tilak Varma, especially after his brilliant innings against PBKS, where in the chase he scored 75 off 33 balls and won a match from an impossible situation. Here, we agree that the pitch was slow and challenging and needed a different approach. Add to that, early wickets had fallen, so a rebuilding for a few overs was required, and he and Hardik were doing that. Even the rain break for one hour broke the rhythm a tad, we can say. But Tilak never really got going.
Tilak struggled to time the ball and showed less intent. He managed to get a maximum away from Narine but was all at sea against the spinners. Varun Chakaravarthy would have had him earlier caught and bowled, but the keeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi came in and collided to make sure Tilak got a lifeline. Whether that was to make sure MI struggle to get momentum by keeping him out there is something we will never know. But he was struggling, and as a result, even Hardik went to run a ball. It was a bizarre innings from Tilak to say the least.
Tilak has blown hot and cold this season. He scored a terrific ton against GT in Ahmedabad and a 75* in Dharamsala against PBKS. But other than these two notable contributions, he has struggled to get going. Tilak has the talent; what he needs to work on going ahead is consistency. IPL 2026 has been either up or fully down. This is not ideal. Tilak needs to go back to the drawing board, and if he can, will want to sign off on a high against RR in their last match. Rebuilding is fine, but playing dot balls and not rotating strike isn’t.
Missed fielding and lapses in the field, too, cost MI in a close bout
To be fair to the Mumbai Indians (MI), they did not surrender with the ball and made a match out of it. It was not complete domination by KKR as MI gave them a few nervy moments and stretched the game to 19 overs. KKR would have ideally wanted to win it earlier and improve their NRR, but they couldn’t due to the pitch and disciplined MI bowling. But as in close games, fielding is important. Some lapses cost them in a close contest.
Multiple fielding errors were noticed, and a missed opportunity when Hardik Pandya came to bowl. He induced a false shot from Manish Pandey, which he swung to the leg side. Two fielders, Deepak Chahar and Robin Minz, got close to the ball. Both looked at each other rather than catching the ball. The ball landed between them. It was Deepak’s catch for sure, but there was no calling between the two players. Had the wicket gone down there, who knows what could have happened? KKR could have panicked, which they almost did last night.
There were overthrows given away as well at crucial junctures, as MI were a little sloppy in the field. But credit to them for making a match out of this. Looking ahead to the next match against RR and beyond, they will look to work on this area, which is fielding and come up with better results. Last night, it was slightly off as MI will look to bounce back in the afternoon game on Sunday.
What Lies Ahead
We are into the final round of fixtures in IPL 2026. KKR will next be in action on Sunday night against DC in what is the league’s last round-robin clash. While MI will be in action against RR, which will be a crucial clash for RR on Sunday afternoon in Mumbai. KKR’s match is in Kolkata. Tonight, the bandwagon moves to Ahmedabad, where GT hosts CSK. GT are already through to the playoffs but must win to make it into the top 2. CSK are all but out of the tournament, as a win alone will not be enough. They will need other results to go their way.
Let’s see how this clash pans out in Ahmedabad, as we are into the last round of fixtures with all 10 teams completing 13 matches each so far. The race for the top 2 will be in focus for the next two days before we shift our focus back to the 4th qualifying team for playoffs over the weekend. A fascinating ride awaits us all.
Also Read: KKR vs MI: Manish Pandey’s Responsible Knock Keeps KKR’s Hopes Alive