IPL 2026 – MI vs CSK – Questions over Krish Bhagat’s overs and positions of Tilak Varma and Sherfane Rutherford

Krish Bhagat, all of 21 years of age, was playing just his second IPL match on Thursday for Mumbai Indians (MI). On debut three days prior, he had bowled overs four and six, conceding ten runs overall to Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar and Glenn Phillips. He didn’t bowl in the powerplay at all against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and was instead given the 16th and the 20th and conceded 31 runs. Faith in the young man? Or expecting too much in what Ambati Rayudu called “two of the hardest overs” in a T20 innings?

“As a batting unit, your 16th over is like when you start going for it [entering the death overs], and then your 20th, obviously, you’re throwing everything at it,” Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show after CSK’s 103-run win. “As a young boy, that’s two very, very tough overs.”

Mitchell McClenaghan, the former MI bowler sitting alongside Rayudu, agreed, saying, “One of the keys, I guess, over the last few years in IPL cricket, in T20 cricket, is that in the first innings, you want your best bowler to bowl the 20th over. And then in the last innings, you want them to bowl the 19th. Reasons being momentum going into a break can actually flow on into the next innings.

“Don’t ask me why. It’s just something that happens in the changing room. You know, you come in deflated if you’ve got an over that’s gone for 15-plus. And in the back end, obviously, you want to try and get a wicket before that last over. So it was interesting [that Bhagat bowled the last over].”

“We saw [AM] Ghazanfar] was impressive in the powerplay [six runs in one over]. He was a good match-up [against Sanju Samson]. Or even Mitch Santner to bowl the second over [1 for 9],” McClenaghan said. “And then also, once you’ve taken a wicket in those first couple of overs, bringing [Jasprit] Bumrah back again, when you know the middle to lower order of CSK is short [of runs], to try and get one more wicket in the powerplay with Bumrah attacking would have been a good option as well [Bumrah gave 19 runs in two powerplay overs].

“That looked pretty good. Santner and Ghazanfar. I think Sanju just lined up Hardik [Pandya] initially [38 from two overs]. So, obviously, that’s also a confidence thing maybe. The fact that Sanju is well-set and he is going to be facing Hardik Pandya in the death. Maybe Hardik felt that a new bowler [Bhagat], different style, lesser known, maybe he would try. I just felt that he didn’t try too many yorkers in the dead. Maybe it is not his strength. [But] the way the field was set, I think he was trying to execute wide yorkers, and they were just coming out as that fuller length. So I think he was definitely trying and it was an obvious plan.

“But sometimes that happens. Particularly, when that’s the first time you are in that situation. And also a young boy.”

Sherfane Rutherford vs Tilak Varma

Sherfane Rutherford batted at No. 7 in MI’s chase. Tilak Varma, the star of their last match, was at No. 5. Both Rayudu and McClenaghan felt that Tilak had a better chance of walking out and making an impact straightaway at the death than Rutherford.

“Sherfane at five, I think is a great option,” McClenaghan said. “Because we know he can hit at the end. But he hits at the end once he is set. And we saw that in other tournaments as well.”

As it transpired, Tilak scored 37 in 29 balls and Rutherford fell for a first-ball duck.

“And also with Tilak,” Rayudu said, “if you look at his best innings [against Gujarat Titans], most of his runs have come in the last four or five overs [he scored 64 runs in 17 balls in the last four overs]. And it necessarily does not mean he has to be set. Even when he walks in [in the last five overs], he is ready and prepared.

“If you have seen his 8 [from three balls, against Punjab Kings], when Rutherford got bowled by Arshdeep [Singh], Tilak was prepared to hit in areas that he knows that the bowlers are going to bowl at. He is a brilliant batsman at six and seven. He knows what’s going on.

“Stick to Rutherford [at No. 5]. Because Rutherford needs a few balls. And then he can be explosive. But Tilak does not need those balls to be explosive. In that middle phase, I think Tilak is getting a little confused, as to, you know, do I build an innings now? Do I really take the bowlers on? He doesn’t really have that clarity. But when he is batting in those five or six overs, he has complete clarity of how to go about it.”

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