Patidar urges RCB batters to focus on shot selection to break home jinx

"Shall we make it quick, please?" Rajat Patidar asked quietly but with urgency, as he attended his first press conference as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain at the Chinnaswamy Stadium since IPL 2025 began.

It was quick, but the word "adapt" came up often in those five minutes. So did "toss", "conditions", and "pitches".

RCB are the only team without a win at home this season; a stark contrast to their form on the road - five wins in five away games. Each of their three defeats in Bengaluru has followed a similar pattern: they lost the toss and were sent in to bat on difficult tracks, lost early wickets and made below-par totals, and then struggled to defend as dew made batting easier for their opponents during the chase.

The numbers tell the story. Liam Livingstone and Tim David are their only batters with a half-century at home this season. They have had nine 50-plus scores away from home. At home, RCB's top six averages just 13.94, the lowest across all teams this season, and their collective strike rate of 117.28 is the second lowest. Their firepower, explosive away, has fizzled at the Chinnaswamy.

RCB have perhaps been guilty of going too hard too early in the powerplay on pitches that aren't the batting beauties Bengaluru used to offer in previous IPL seasons. They have lost a wicket every 12 balls on average in the powerplay in home games. And away? A wicket every 60 balls in the powerplay. The intent has been similar. The rewards not so much.

RCB's top order has been undone by extra bounce early on at home. Of the seven wickets they've lost to pace in the powerplay, five have fallen to good-length deliveries. The remaining two to back-of-length balls, against which RCB's batters have a strike rate of just 58.06. They haven't lost a single wicket to these lengths in the powerplay away from home.

The issues were evident in their most recent home game: a rain-shortened 14-over contest against Punjab Kings (PBKS). After RCB lost the toss, Phil Salt top-edged a bouncer off Arshdeep Singh; Virat Kohli mistimed a pull to the only fielder patrolling the leg-side boundary; Livingstone and Krunal Pandya also fell to short balls.

"Absolutely, you are right, the shot selection matters," Patidar said, when asked about RCB's approach at home. "Because this time the wickets are two-paced wickets and the bounce is varying, so I think the bowlers are getting a lot of help, the way their ball is dipping, the way they are getting the bounce, so I think the more we focus on hitting [behind] square of the wicket, the better it will be."

RCB's risk-taking has been heightened at home, perhaps because they have lost the toss and have had to set targets without knowing what a safe score is. They have lost a wicket to pace every five balls on average while attempting aggressive shots at home; the corresponding away number is a wicket every 21 balls.

David is one of RCB's success stories at home, striking at 185.93 with scores of 32, 37 not out and 50 not out. "We're a very good team," he told the broadcaster during RCB's game against PBKS in Mullanpur. "But at home, we've had three different surfaces in three matches. We've batted first every time, maybe tried to over-attack on pitches that haven't been true. People think of Bengaluru as a flat pitch - it hasn't been this season."

Winning the toss might help against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, but as Patidar wryly said, "The toss is not in your control. What is, is how you play the situation."