The hex of the exes - another old boy returns home to take RCB down

"I am a bit confused about the Impact Player, but we're playing the same team."

That was Rajat Patidar after losing his third straight toss in IPL 2025 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In a rain-shortened match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) held back an eighth batter - Devdutt Padikkal wasn't named in the XII - against a batting-heavy Punjab Kings (PBKS), a decision that raised eyebrows after Patidar's remark.

Was it oversight or sheer audacity?

Or signaling an intent: resist overcommitting batting resources in a condensed game and, instead, strengthen the bowling.

Unfortunately for RCB, the plan unraveled long before it could take shape. Their top order faltered, and it started in the first over itself with Arshdeep Singh knocking over Phil Salt with a short ball, eerily similar to how he had orchestrated his downfall when India played England in a T20I series earlier this year.

That set the pattern for a collapse RCB hadn't bargained for.

The rain and the moisture had had its effect on the pitch, with fast bowlers able to extract a little extra, both in terms of bounce and movement.

Virat Kohli copped one high on the bat as he miscued a pull to mid-on; Liam Livingstone top-edged a heave; Jitesh Sharma top-edged a slog sweep; Krunal Pandya fell when Marco Jansen's short ball reared up faster than he had anticipated, with the ball brushing his glove and looping up after thudding into the helmet.

At 33 for 5 in 6.1 overs, the scoreboard offered little cushion to justify RCB's brave call of not starting with Padikkal. With the innings teetering, they were forced to summon their Impact Player - Manoj Bhandage.

A name tucked away in RCB's reserves for a number of years, Bhandage had quietly carved a reputation as a finisher in the Karnataka circles, waiting for a stage worthy of his promise. That moment arrived under the blaze of the IPL lights, with 30,000 fans roaring and the weight of a looming crisis showing.

It was less a debut and more a trial by fire. Bhandage finally got his moment with RCB 41 for 6 in the eighth over. The innings lasted all of four deliveries, and an attempt to review the lbw off Jansen almost seemed an afterthought. The despondency mirrored RCB's night of horror.

In their first home game this season, against Gujarat Titans (GT), RCB were given a stinging reminder of what once was, as Mohammed Siraj - an integral part of their set-up for seven seasons - returned for the opposition to hurt them. A week later, it was KL Rahul who stirred memories of another sliding-door moment.

It was in RCB colours, on a warm May afternoon in 2016, that Rahul's T20 journey truly took shape. Thrust into the XI that day against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in Rajkot as a late replacement for the injured Mandeep Singh, Rahul had responded with a half-century, and made a middle-order spot his own for the remainder of the season.

Back at "home" this season, Rahul hit the winning runs and drew an imaginary circle on the ground and placed his bat into it, enacting a scene from the Kannada film Kantara, and walking off proudly telling his team-mates, "this is my ground".

On Friday night, the damage was done long before Nehal Wadhera's six-hitting blitz sealed a win for PBKS. It began with Yuzvendra Chahal, another ex-RCB stalwart, not just returning but also serving a reminder of the force he still can be despite a poor start to the season where his utility had been questioned.

Unlike Glenn Maxwell, Chahal had the air of a disgruntled ex when he was released, and justifiably so. No bowler had claimed more wickets at the Chinnaswamy than him. From a modest INR 10 lakh signing to a lynchpin of India's white-ball attack, Chahal's rise mirrored RCB's trust in him.

He was the man Kohli, when captain, turned to when the stakes were high. Someone who dared to toss it up on a graveyard for bowlers. On Friday night, Chahal wasn't just reclaiming his territory, he was making a statement.

Chahal began with intent, tossing each of his first four deliveries bravely into the arc of danger. On the fourth, he found reward as Jitesh was lured into the slog sweep that he top-edged to the boundary rider. The ball had drifted in, dipped late, and ripped away - a legspinner's classic calling card. In a rain-curtailed 14-over game, a four-run over with a wicket was gold.

But Chahal wasn't done. His next act was even grander: the dismissal of Rajat Patidar, a man who dismantles spin not with footwork, but with stillness. Patidar thrives on balance, getting power from a solid base, launching spinners with effortless brutality.

Last year in Dharamsala, he had provided a highlights reel of sixes against Rahul Chahar. The conditions may have been different here, but the threat he posed remained just as real, even in the rubble of RCB's innings. And yet, on Friday night, Chahal cracked the code.

With teasing flight and dip, he drew Patidar into a lofted stroke - not a reckless swipe, but a shot, with the spin, that was on. Only, the ball spun outside his hitting arc. The result: a straightforward catch at long-off. Chahal's fist-pump, roar, and sprint to his team-mates said it all. And somewhere in the stands, you could almost hear the groan among the RCB faithful: not again.

This dismissal left Tim David, a man usually content being a spectator when RCB bat, needing to do the heavy lifting. The situation demanded more than fireworks; it called for composure and calculation, for the danger of being bowled out inside 14 overs was real.

David answered the call with his longest IPL innings - 50 off 26 balls - an innings that gave RCB a total that had shape if not heft. And then the bowlers took over, scrapping with spirit, pushing the contest further than the score should have allowed. David gave them a platform. They nearly turned it into something more.

RCB teams of the past may have made small chases such as this one into canters. That this team fought back was testimony to how strong their bowling attack is. However, the bottom line is this: they have now let themselves down with the bat for a third straight innings at home, and that has resulted in three home defeats.

And they are veering dangerously close to "this [home defeats] isn't just a coincidence" territory.