Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced a controlled and efficient chase against Lucknow Super Giants, comfortably overhauling 146 on a slower-than-usual Chinnaswamy surface with 29 balls remaining. The performance once again reflected RCB’s aggressive batting approach, led by captain Rajat Patidar.
The innings did not begin fluently, with Phil Salt and Devdutt Padikkal departing early after scoring at strike rates below 100. However, Patidar quickly shifted the momentum. He struck three sixes and a boundary in his first 12 deliveries, racing to 27 at a strike rate exceeding 200. His dismissal came while attempting to take on Prince Yadav down the ground, a reflection of his attacking intent.
Patidar’s knock continued his assertive run in IPL 2026. He had earlier scored 53 off 20 against Mumbai Indians, 63 off 40 against Rajasthan Royals, 50 off 29 against Chennai Super Kings, and 31 off 12 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Former India batter Ambati Rayudu observed that Patidar’s mindset is “rubbing off” on the rest of the batting unit.
“They are going after every ball. The captain is doing that so the team is following that tempo and that template. Whenever you see Patidar walk in, he comes with a lot of intent,” Rayudu said “It is rubbing off on his non-striker as well as the batters who are following. It is quite refreshing to see RCB play that way.
“Playing on a slow wicket, they adapted way better than the way Lucknow’s batters did. It was a slow wicket, they had to adjust their shots and their bat swing but they played some fantastic shots. Generally, we have seen a lot of sixes against loose balls, but this batting line-up has been hitting sixes against really good deliveries. That’s a great sign.”
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Contributions Across the Line-up
Following Patidar’s quickfire innings, Jitesh Sharma added 23 off just nine balls, marking his first double-digit score of the season after earlier returns of 0, DNB, 5 and 10. Tim David and Romario Shepherd then finished the chase with unbeaten contributions of 14 off eight balls each.
While David and Shepherd have consistently provided power-hitting, Jitesh’s approach drew attention. Former Australia captain Aaron Finch highlighted how his fearless batting, despite modest returns earlier in the season, reflected RCB’s overall philosophy.
“That’s just a batting unit with a lot of confidence,” Finch said. “You can see the gap between the teams on the top of the table and the bottom. That was again evident today. They go with a similar structure on how they go about their run-chases. They go hard even when the game [is in their grasp].
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“It would’ve been easy in that situation for one of their batters to get 25 not out, but no, that’s not how they play cricket in Bengaluru now. They continue to stick to their guns, they play to their strengths. If the match up is theirs, they go for it. They put to bed games quite comfortably.
“The consequences of when you do that [watchful batting when games are in control], then you lose credibility. [Team-mates might feel] that If someone is prepared to just knock it around and look out for themselves, then, next time they might do that too because they’re worried about next year’s contract. That’s how [team] cultures crumble so quickly. The fact that they went out and did what they talked about – brilliant.”
A Defined Team Identity
Rayudu further emphasised how this attacking approach has become central to RCB’s identity.
“Everyone is fitting beautifully into Patidar’s template and they want to fit in,” Rayudu said. “Without that kind of positive intent, I don’t think they’d be looked at for staying in the XI, they’d be dropped. That’s a great attitude to have and it looks like an amazing team that puts the team in front of everything else.”
