3 Tactical Blunders By Rajat Patidar That Led To RCB's Defeat vs GT

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

Rajat Patidar for RCB [Source: @aman_saxena_03/x.com]Rajat Patidar for RCB [Source: @aman_saxena_03/x.com]

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have lost their first match in IPL 2025. The 14th match between RCB and GT was held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Titans put the home team under pressure and restricted them to 169 runs at the end of 20 overs. In the second innings, the Shubman Gill led side chased down the target losing only a couple of wickets with 13 deliveries remaining in the game.

As RCB registered their first defeat, here is a look back at 3 tactical blunders by their skipper Rajat Patidar that resulted in the is convincing loss -

3. Not Giving Yash Dayal A Fourth Over

Yash Dayal was bought into the attack in the sixth over of the chase. He conceded 14 runs in his first two overs. At this stage, the left-arm medium pacer was building pressure on the two batters in the middle. However, Rajat Patidar removed him from the attack after this.

The next over Yash Dayal bowled was the 11th over of the innings, where he conceded only six runs. After this Josh Halewood picked up a wicket with the new ball that was taken in the 13th over. Even after this they did not bring Dayal, who was doing the job of containing from one end. The fact that Rajat Patidar never looked back at their most economical bowler was one of the major tactical blunders in Patidar's captaincy.

2. Not Respecting The Playing Conditions

The Royal Challenegers Bengaluru lost three wickets in the first four overs. The tactically positive thing at this stage would have been to see out the over of the seamers and then pick up the scoring rate. However, Rajat Patidar tried to take on the bowling and that resulted in his perish adding further pressure on the middle order. This was the reason behind them restricted to 169/8 at the end of 20 overs.

1. Not Bringing In Suyash Sharma

RCB decided to use Rasikh Salam Dar as their impact substitute. The medium pacer conceded 35 runs in his three overs and it left a major negative impact on the team's peformance. RCB had Suyash Sharma as another option who could have come in as an impact replacement. The fact that RCB did not use the spinner as their impact replacement was the biggest blunder by the skipper and the team management.