Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) just can’t seem to catch a break at home. On Thursday, they faced off against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and ended up losing by six wickets in their IPL 2025 match. This loss continues their rough patch at home this season, where the team has really struggled to put up a decent fight.
Their first home game against Gujarat Titans on April 2 was another disappointment. In that match, RCB couldn’t defend a target of 170 runs, which was pretty low-scoring itself. Fast forward to their game against DC on April 10, and RCB managed to score 163 runs for 7 wickets. Unfortunately, this total didn’t really make life hard for the visiting team. Although Phil Salt put up a quick 37 runs off 17 balls and Tim David contributed with a solid 37 not-out off 20, RCB just couldn’t build on their decent start. The pitch didn’t help, either; it seemed slower than usual, unlike the high-scoring games fans typically associate with Bengaluru.
RCB looked promising early on, starting off at 61 runs for just one wicket during the powerplay. But things took a sharp turn, and they found themselves at 91 for 4, thanks to some impressive bowling from Kuldeep Yadav, who took 2 wickets for 17 runs, and emerging bowler Vipraj Nigam, who added another 2 for 18.
On the chase, the Delhi Capitals struggled at first, quickly finding themselves at 30 runs for 3 wickets. But local boy KL Rahul really stepped up. He guided the innings masterfully, finishing with an unbeaten 93 runs off 53 balls. His performance, which included seven fours and six sixes, left the crowd in Bengaluru quite stunned and quiet.
After the match, RCB captain Rajat Patidar acknowledged that his team misjudged the pitch conditions. He pointed out that being at 80 runs for one wicket and then collapsing to 90 for four is unacceptable, saying, “We didn’t assess conditions well enough, and we need to play smarter cricket going forward.” It’s a frustrating situation for the team.
Fans and analysts alike are scratching their heads, wondering why RCB can’t pull off a win at home. Interestingly, RCB has been doing quite well away from Bengaluru during IPL 2025, but their struggles at Chinnaswamy have raised some eyebrows. It’s clear that they’re no longer comfortable with the scores they used to easily chase or defend on their home turf. Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle also shared his thoughts on RCB’s long-standing issues at home. He noticed a trend where they’ve lost games after the opposition scores big—over 200 runs—but now, even a total of 160 seems to be a hurdle for them. He mentioned that in their last couple of games at home, even totals around 165 to 170 that used to be achievable are now slipping through their fingers.
Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull weighed in as well, pointing out that RCB seems to struggle with reading the pitch correctly. In today’s IPL style, teams often go for big runs early without really thinking about the conditions. Doull mentioned that teams are hoping to score over 200 runs when the pitch might not support that kind of scoring.
Looking ahead, RCB’s next match is against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on April 13. They’re eager to turn things around and regain some momentum. As it stands, they’re sitting at third place in the IPL 2025 points table, which isn’t too shabby, especially since they’re sharing six points with two other teams. Hopefully, they can get their game back on track soon!
