Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has lost all three of their IPL 2025 home games, but Devdutt Padikkal attributes it to “coincidence” rather than the players’ and coaches’ complaints about not receiving the pitches they desire. The reason RCB is in third in the standings with ten points from eight games is because of their incredible streak of all-win away games.
“To be honest, I think it’s just coincidence that our [five] wins have come away from home,” Padikkal said at the press conference following his contribution of 61 off 35 balls in RCB’s seven-wicket victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in New Chandigarh on Sunday. But throughout the competition, we have played some excellent cricket.
We seem to have bonded extremely well together, and it’s evident, you know. Every time we lose a game, we bounce back quickly and win more. We must maintain this momentum and figure out how to win at home as well. The Chinnaswamy is also deserving of some victories.
At Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, scoring runs hasn’t been as simple this year as it has in the past. Every time they have played there, RCB has batted first and amassed scores of 169 for 8, 163 for 7, and 95 for 9 in a 14-overs-a-side match.
“I don’t think that’s anything to do with the pitch, to be honest,” Padikkal stated.
“As a batting unit, we must read the pitch quickly enough; I believe we haven’t done that as well as we could. We haven’t performed well enough. However, that is a component of the IPL competition. There are always difficulties. As a team, we face this dilemma; it is crucial that we figure out a solution.
“Definitely we have some experienced and talented cricketers in the side and we’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan for the next home game.”
At the New Chandigarh venue, PBKS has had a mixed record. Their first-inning scores have ranged from 219 for 6, which they scored in a victory over the Rajasthan Royals (RR), to 111 all out against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which they were able to defend to win a thrilling match. They will play their remaining home games in Dharamsala after finishing 2-2 in New Chandigarh this season.
“I believe today’s pitch was steady. We talk about the fact that it doesn’t provide much bounce or pace, which is one thing we are aware of,” PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting stated. “Every wicket in the four games we’ve played here has been a little bit different. You simply need some time to get used to it.”
After being asked to bat, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave PBKS a strong powerplay in Sunday’s game, reaching 62 for 1. After that, things slowed down as PBKS lost wickets and faltered to 157 for 6, then fell behind by seven wickets with seven balls remaining in the match.
“When we batted first today, at the end of the powerplay, I was pretty comfortable at 1 for 62,” Ponting stated. “We anticipated that the wicket would slow down a little bit throughout the middle of the innings, but the fact that we kept losing wickets—we also had a run out there, which never helps—means that our middle order—the openers—lost all of their momentum following the wickets.
“After that, in order to give oneself a high enough score, you must re-establish certain partnerships. We had a chance there; after 16 overs [at 129 for 6], we hoped to reach 180, which, considering the difficulty of the chase, would have been a very excellent score. However, we weren’t capable of doing it.”
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