 "RCB suffered their second defeat in as many matches at home this season. Image: BCCI")
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) struggles at home continued on Thursday as they suffered yet another defeat at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, this time going down to a clinical Delhi Capitals (DC) side by six wickets in their IPL 2025 clash. The loss adds to RCB’s growing list of setbacks at home this season.
RCB lost to Gujarat Titans in their first home game of the season on 2 April. That match was a low-scoring affair too, as RCB failed to defend a 170-run target.
In the match against DC on 10 April, RCB posted 163/7, a total that never truly challenged the visitors. Despite a 37 off 17 from Phil Salt and a late flourish from Tim David (37 not-out off 20 balls), RCB failed to capitalise on the start. The wicket appeared slow, a contrast to the high-scoring surface Bengaluru is known for.
From 61/1 in the powerplay, they collapsed to 91/4, with Kuldeep Yadav (2/17) and young spinner Vipraj Nigam (2/18) pulling things back for DC.
Delhi Capitals stuttered early in their chase, reduced to 30/3 inside the powerplay, but KL Rahul, returning to his hometown, stood tall. He anchored the innings with an unbeaten 93 off 53 balls. Rahul’s match-winning knock, laced with seven boundaries and six sixes, silenced the Bengaluru crowd.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar admitted post-match that his side failed to read the pitch. “We were 80 for one, then 90 for four, that’s not acceptable on this track. We didn’t assess conditions well enough and we need to play smarter cricket going forward,” he said in the post-match presentation.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhy can’t RCB win at home?
While RCB have dominated away from home in IPL 2025 so far, their inconsistency at Chinnaswamy is becoming a concern. RCB are no longer dominating even the totals that used to offer them comfort at home. This has raised concerns among the fans and pundits alike, with many asking why RCB can’t win at home.
Even cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle raised concerns about the franchise’s long-standing home issues.
“Interestingly, they have lost games where the opposition comes and scores over 200 runs and now they have lost a game where they have only made 160. Last two times they have played there, they have made 165-170. Now they are losing games at 170. It’s a huge thing. It’s not that it’s happened over one year or two years. Can they just say forget it this game never happened? We’re good enough, come back and win,” Bhogle told Cricbuzz.
Meanwhile, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull blamed RCB’s failure to read the pitch correctly for their poor run at home. He mentioned the current IPL trend of going hard against the bowlers early on without assessing the conditions well enough. Doull said that teams are looking to score over 200 runs when the surface is probably less than that.
With their next match scheduled away against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on 13 April, RCB will be hoping to turn things around quickly and regain momentum. They currently sit in the third spot on the IPL 2025 points, which is not bad considering they share six points with two other teams.