Behind-the-wicket lessons told Rahul 'what pockets to target' on tacky Chinnaswamy pitch

Keeping wicket for 20 overs and understanding the ground dimensions and the "pockets to target" went a long way in KL Rahul adjusting to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium surface as he smashed an unbeaten 53-ball 93 to lead Delhi Capitals' (DC) to victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday night.

Rahul knows the Bengaluru conditions better than most players. He has played professional cricket in the city almost his entire career, being a Karnataka boy. But he accepted that the pitch on Thursday was "slightly tricky" unlike some of the Bengaluru pitches of the past where batters have made merry.

"It was a slightly tricky wicket, but I think what helped me is just being behind the stumps for 20 overs and just watching how the wicket played," Rahul said on the broadcast after the game. "I knew... I mean, from wicketkeeping, I figured that the ball sat in the wicket a little bit, but it was consistent throughout.

"It wasn't two-paced, it was one pace, and it just sat in the wicket a little bit. I knew what my shots are, so I just wanted to get off to a good start, be aggressive initially, and then assess it from there, and that's what I did."

With Faf du Plessis back in the side, Rahul was slotted in at No. 4 again having opened the batting against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the previous game. He walked out with DC struggling at 10 for 2 in 2.1 overs, which soon became 30 for 3 and 58 for 4 by the ninth over. Rahul struck two crisp fours early, but was only on a run-a-ball 29. That wouldn't do. So he cut loose from there and rattled off 64 off his next 24 balls, his sixth six of the night taking DC to their fourth straight win of the season.

"On a wicket like this, I knew what my pockets were. If I was going first trying to get a big six, I knew what pockets to target," Rahul said. "And, like I said, wicketkeeping just gave me a bit of a feel for how the other batters played and where they were dismissed and where were they able to hit sixes.

"So just those cues from behind the stumps really helped me in just getting a few balls in."

Dinesh Karthik, the RCB batting coach, was quite vocal in suggesting that RCB have not been getting "good pitches" in IPL 2025 - pitches like those of the past, where hitters thrive.

It looked like one of those pitches when RCB raced away to 61 for no loss in the first 3.4 overs. But they lost seven wickets in the next 13.3 overs to slip to 125 for 7, with the DC wristspinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam, running amok. A lot of the dismissals came about when batters tried to go over the top but lost their shape.

"I think the way T20 cricket is, the more runs are there, the better it is for the broadcaster, the better it is for the fans. They all like to see boundaries," Karthik said. "In the first two games, we have asked for good pitches. But it's turned out in this way where it's been challenging to bat on, for sure.

"Definitely, this is not a pitch that's helping the batters too much. It's a challenging pitch. That has been the case so far in both the games that we have played."

RCB are yet to win a match at home this season - they had earlier gone down to Gujarat Titans (GT) by eight wickets. Then, too, RCB had failed to put up a big total, stopping at 169 for 8.

"There's been a wobble when people have tried to stay out there and fight it out as well. It's been hard to, at times, rotate strike. And the big shot has been really hard as well. So we have tried to control it [the urge to keep hitting]," Karthik said. "But, at the end, it's a T20. You have to play some shots and that has gotten the wicket of a few batters.

"We will obviously have a chat with the curator. We trust him to do his job, and we will try and do the best of what we can."

Rajat Patidar, the RCB captain, agreed with Karthik, but said that his batters "lacked in assessing the situation and condition" of the game.

"I think the way we have seen the wicket earlier, I think this was quite different. We thought it will be a nice batting track and then I think we have not batted well," Patidar said. "Every batsman is in a good frame of mind; I think everyone has shown the proper intent. But at the end, I think 80 for 1 [61 for 1] and then straightaway 90 for 4 [91 for 4], I think that is not acceptable on this track."