RCB vs GT IPL 2025: Three mistakes made by Royal Challengers Bangalore

It wasn’t such a happy homecoming for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, as they slumped to their first defeat of the season against Gujarat Titans last night at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The hosts batted first and finished with a slightly under-par score. Gujarat Titans chased down the target quite easily in the end.  Batting first, RCB lost a couple of early wickets in the powerplay as Virat Kohli and Phil Salt couldn’t get going, and could only manage 169 on the board, which proved to be significantly under par at Chinnaswamy’s small boundaries. 

Jos Buttler and Sherfane Rutherford got going for Gujarat in the second innings. Once again, it was Sai Sudharsan, who set the tone with a brillaint knock at the top. Looking back, RCB could have done things slightly differently.

Here are 3 mistakes that RCB made against GT in IPL 2025.

1. Going too hard in the powerplay

The powerplay is key in T20 cricket, as the batting side looks to maximize scoring opportunities with just two fielders outside the circle. However, sometimes players need to take a more cautious approach keeping in mind the conditions. Yesterday, the new ball was moving around a bit and it wasn’t the easiest to score against the experience of Mohammed Siraj and Ishant Sharma.

Virat Kohli fell early trying to flick, and then Padikkal and Phil Salt were out trying to slog cross-batted on that surface. Those early dents cost RCB in the game. In contrast, Gujarat Titans batted slower in the powerplay, losing only one wicket and the chase then became straightforward. 

2. Not promoting Krunal Pandya

RCB have built a power-packed side for the 2025 IPL, with plenty of strong six hitters in their middle order. However, a few of those batters are death overs specialists, and most effective against pace bowling. After losing three quick wickets yesterday, Royal Challengers Bangalore needed an anchor player who could steady the innings in the middle phase, allowing their explosive batters to swing hard towards the death.

 It would have been a great opportunity to promote Krunal Pandya ahead of Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. He adds a left-hand right-hand combination to the order as well and could have potentially negated the influence of Sai Kishore. With Krunal Pandya anchoring the middle overs, Jitesh Sharma and Tim David could have even more license to attack toward the death. 

3. Not striking early with the ball

With an under-par total, getting early wickets was key and RCB’s bowlers couldn’t provide that last night. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled well, keeping things tight but they hardly attacked the stumps. The new ball bowlers for RCB looked more keen on restricting the runs, as Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan played out the first four overs.

Shubman Gill was dismissed shortly after, but the visitors still had a productive powerplay which allowed them to build onto the chase. Batting did become easier once the new ball lost its shine, and then the spinners were taken down easily with the small boundaries. The dew also didn’t help RCB, as Gujarat coasted through the chase. Had the hosts picked up two or three wickets in the powerplay, things could have been very different.