Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) suffered another crushing defeat at their home ground in a rain-shortened 14-over contest against Punjab Kings (PBKS), with former cricketer Virender Sehwag blasting the batters for their poor shot selection and lack of game awareness.
RCB was reeling at 42/7 in just 8.2 overs before Tim David’s valiant unbeaten 50 (off 26 balls) lifted them to a modest 95/9. PBKS chased it down comfortably with five wickets and 11 balls to spare.
Sehwag pulled no punches on Cricbuzz, saying, “Not a single RCB batter used common sense. All got out playing reckless shots, not to good deliveries. Had they shown patience, 110-120 was possible in 14 overs.”
Skipper Rajat Patidar, who became the second-fastest Indian to reach 1000 IPL runs during the game, came under special scrutiny from Sehwag. “He has to find answers. RCB is struggling at home, and he can’t ignore the repeated batting failures,” he added.
RCB bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled admirably, sharing five wickets, but the lack of runs left them with no real chance.
This was RCB’s third straight home loss and a record 46th defeat at the Chinnaswamy, making them the team with the most home losses in IPL history. After a strong start, winning three of their first four matches, RCB has now lost two of their last three.
