Tilak Varma, a young player for the Mumbai Indians, scored an impressive 84 not out off just 46 balls with four sixes and nine fours on Sunday in Bengaluru. This gave the five-time winners a fighting chance in their IPL 2023 opening match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). (April 2). But Tilak’s talent wasn’t enough to keep his team from losing 11 times in a row in the first match of the IPL for the Mumbai Indians.
Tilak Varma had a great game, but his “helicopter” shot off RCB pacer Harshal Patel in the last over of the Mumbai Indians’ innings was the best. Fans were reminded of MS Dhoni’s signature “Helicopter” shot when Tilak flicked Harshal into the boxes with the last ball of the last over.
MI batters couldn’t get going, except for Tilak Verma, who scored an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls to help MI score a solid 171 for 7. “Tilak did a great job but didn’t have much help.” 170 on a tiny field could have been a better score. Shane Bond, the bowling coach for the Mumbai Indians, said after the game, “I think 190 could have been a good score.”
“We didn’t bowl well.” We knew that the opening relationship would be significant. “We couldn’t break it, and we couldn’t even put enough pressure on it,” Bond said.
The five-time winners lost their season opener to Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets on Sunday. This was the 11th straight season opener that they lost. When MI beat Chennai Super Kings in their first match in 2012, it had been a long time since they had won a match.
“I’m in my ninth season, and we’ve never won the first game. So it’s starting to bother me. It’s a tough battle. Always, it’s better to win than to lose.” It’s a tough way to start,” Bond said at the press conference after the match.
