Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin recently criticized Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after the IPL 2026 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI). Ashwin questioned the decision of bowling against Mumbai Indians captain Rajat Patidar and called it very average.
Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 12. Patidar led the defending champions to their third win of the current season. The middle-order batsman made an important contribution in scoring a big score by scoring a stormy half-century in 17 balls.
Rajat Patidar was hitting Markande at every corner – Ravichandran Ashwin
Hardik Pandya surprisingly brought wrist spinner Mayank Markande back into the attack in the 12th over. Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Rajat Patidar immediately took advantage of this move. Ravichandran Ashwin recalled the last match in Hyderabad where Patidar showed his prowess against spin.
“It was the SRH vs RCB 2024 game where Rajat Patidar announced that he is a spin hitter. He was hitting Markande to every corner,” Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin also drew similarities between the two overs. He said that Virat Kohli took a run on the first ball, which gave Patidar an opportunity to continue attacking the spinner.
He said, “There are some common things between these two big overs. The first ball was taken by Virat Kohli, he took one run and everything else was the same. There he hit four sixes, here he hit three sixes.”
Rajat Patidar is a brilliant hitter against spinners – Ravichandran Ashwin slam Hardik Pandya’s strategy
Mayank Markandey gave 20 runs in that 12th over and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s score became 144 runs for one wicket. Ravichandran Ashwin said that giving the ball to Markandey made no strategic sense and added that Hardik Pandya’s decision made a significant difference to the final score.
“Rajat Patidar is a brilliant hitter against spinners, and when he came to bat, you gave the ball straight to Mayank Markand.E. We have to understand what is going on in Markandeya’s mind,” Ashwin said.
“They had beaten him badly in Hyderabad and when Patidar came in he was given the ball straight away. Very, very, very average, my head started spinning. It was the difference between 210 and 240. MI’s spinners gave away 80 runs in six overs.”
Rajat Patidar strengthens RCB with explosive innings as MI falls behind
Rajat Patidar scored consecutive half-centuries in the season. He added 53 runs in 20 balls, hit five sixes and scored at a strike rate of 265. Mayank Markandey had a poor performance and failed to take a single wicket this season. Phil Salt and Tim David also made important contributions in increasing the total score.
Despite the high-scoring nature of the match, Virat Kohli struggled to match the attacking pace set by his teammates. He scored 50 runs in 38 balls at a strike rate of 131.58 and was eventually dismissed by Hardik Pandya on the deep boundary.
Mumbai Indians failed to chase the big target. Their last title came in 2020 in the UAE and since then they have managed to qualify for the playoffs only twice.
Also read: Virat Kohli’s injury update: Will the RCB star miss the remaining matches of IPL 2026?
