RCB won 3 games out of 4 this IPL, defeating CSK and MI in their homes for the first time in decades.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru made two huge moves into the playoffs as soon as the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 began. Although it is too early to predict if Rajat Patidar's team will finish in the top four at the end of the league stages on May 18, there are some encouraging signals.
They defeated fierce rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 50 runs at Chepauk Stadium for the first time since the initial 2008 season. Despite losing at home to the Gujarat Titans, they are back on track, this time away against the other five-time winners, the Mumbai Indians.
On Monday, RCB pulled off a stunning 12-run win over MI at the Wankhede for the first time since 2015. This has more or less convinced Ambati Rayudu, who has played for both CSK and MI, that this year,RCB will win the IPL title.
"If you look at their team, they have a pretty set combination. If you see the teams that are not doing well in the IPL, they are still trying their combinations. But RCB is one team, along with Delhi [Capitals (DC) and Punjab [Kings (PBKS)] to some extent, who have got their combinations well set for the season.
I have always enjoyed their [RCB's] cricket. We have fun at their expense only because nobody talks about DC or Punjab. Only because RCB always has a team that can win the IPL. But somehow, they come short because of their own shortcomings. Nobody else defeats them, it's them. But this year, with [Rajat] Patidar [as captain], ee sala cup RCB de (this year the cup is RCB's),” Rayudu said on the ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show.
MI needed 138 runs from the final ten overs, and they had reduced the equation to 52 from four overs with six wickets in hand. At that point, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya seemed ready to finish it. However, Patidar's deployment of quick bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood, as well as left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya at the death, helped RCB prevail.
Bhuvneshwar bowled the 16th and 18th overs, and Hazlewood bowled the penultimate one. Handing over the ball to Krunal for the final one was an odd approach, but it worked for RCB, as he took three wickets and defended 18.
"For me, the biggest takeaway in that captaincy during those 20 overs is getting Bhuvi early. Because you generally associate Bhuvi with bowling either 19th or 20th. But getting Bhuvi early when they really needed experience, when they needed to get the game back into their control, I felt was a brilliant move.
Because he could have gone [to] Krunal again, thinking that we have Hazlewood and Bhuvi. But even the execution from Bhuvi and Hazlewood was amazing. And this also shows this IPL is different, because there is no dew. Bowling yorkers, even in the second innings has become slightly easier. And also, with the use of saliva,” Rayudu added.
RCB will play on April 10, facing Delhi Capitals at home in Bengaluru.