The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be locking horns with the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, April 2. The two sides have faced each other at this ground twice so far, with both winning one game each. RCB‘s return to Chinnaswamy poses a familiar challenge – can they shake off their home-ground woes?
Despite a strong start to IPL 2025 with two away wins, RCB’s struggles at home remain a concern. With a sub-50% win record in Bengaluru, they’ve looked to address this through smart auction buys, particularly in the bowling department. The visiting team GT has been heavily dependent on their top three so far but, like RCB, have most fronts covered, on paper at least. A well-rounded bowling unit adds to their strengths although they’d be waiting for more of their players to hit form and play to potential.
RCB vs GT : Previous Performances
RCB has won its last two matches and has been successful in chasing and defending, respectively. For RCB, this will be their first game at home, and they will be excited to play in front of their fans, who are expected to turn up in huge numbers. The Rajat Patidar-led team has looked clinical this season so far, making sure they cover all the boxes. With most of the players turning up in crucial times, RCB has earned the rewards for it.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat-based franchise had a promising yet disappointing start to the season. Playing Punjab Kings at home, the side was hammered for 243 runs in their allotted overs that night, courtesy of Shreyas Iyer, Priyansh Arya, and Shashank Singh. Notably, GT gave a tough fight till the end, but were restricted to 232, eventually losing the game by 11 runs. However, in their last game against the Mumbai Indians, they made sure to finish on the winning side and did so, thanks to their brilliance in both the batting and bowling departments.
RCB vs GT : Head to Head
| Matches Played | 5 |
| Won by Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 3 |
| Won by Gujarat Titans | 2 |
| Tied | 00 |
| No Result | 00 |
| First-ever Fixture | April 30, 2022 |
| Most-recent Fixture | May 4, 2024 |
RCB vs GT : Pitch and Weather Report
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is known for being a batting-friendly surface. The fast outfield and short boundaries contribute to high-scoring games, putting bowlers under pressure. Given these conditions, teams winning the toss often prefer to bowl first, as chasing targets at this venue has been successful. However, bowlers who vary their pace and execute their plans well can still make an impact.
There has been forecast for some rain around in Bengaluru. How that would affect the playing conditions and influence the decision at the toss is awaited. The ground has seen some assistance for seamers across formats in recent times.
This will be the first match that will be played at this venue in IPL 2025. In the previous edition seven matches were played at the venue. Out of the seven games, only three were won by the team chasing. However, given the ground dimensions and the nature of the wicket, it is expected that the captain winning the toss will look to field first.
Teams haven’t experienced much dew over the past two days. As far as the surface goes, Mo Bobat, RCB’s director, expects it to be a “typical Bengaluru pitch” full of runs. For what it’s worth, 200 wasn’t breached even once in seven knockout games of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s here in December. Ditto with the seven WPL games, where spinners were able to extract some bite off the surface.
RCB vs GT : Big Picture : Virat Kohli and RCB at their familiar home conditions
Virat Kohli and Sunil Chhetri, two of India’s biggest sporting icons, will be playing within 2kms of each other on Wednesday evening. This prospect has the traffic cops working overtime to ensure seamless traffic management in Bengaluru.
Inside the Chinnaswamy, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT) were queuing up for sessions for range hitting in their respective halves. The centre of the surface was cordoned off for the curator, who it seems has also worked overtime. The WPL finished three weeks ago, but the heat and dryness has only meant the pitches here have looked a lot browner than usual.
If it remains that way, RCB won’t mind that. They come home on the back of two straight wins to kick-off the season. This has happened only twice earlier, in 2014 and 2021. Along the way, their performances have elicited questions on the (lack of) “home advantage” factor in Kolkata and Chennai.
In any other season, this perceived lack of home advantage may have been telling for RCB. This time promises to be different. It was at the Chinnaswamy that RCB sealed an unreal run to the playoffs last year – winning three out of their last six games back-to-back at home.
This year, RCB believe they have built a squad that can take these unforgiving pitches out of the equation. A gun pace attack, a defensive spinner who sticks to a set template, and a line-up that bats deep. It’s for them to prove now that home advantage is real.
It’s amid the deafening crowd support for RCB that GT will have to sift through several combinations. Is there a case for Jos Buttler to open with Shubman Gill just to give their powerplay a bit more impetus? There’s also a sense their middle order is slightly undercooked, perhaps Nos. 4 and 5 are spots a tad high for Shahrukh Khan and Sherfane Rutherford.
With David Miller not retained and Rahul Tewatia not in the same hitting form he once was, there could be an over-reliance on the top order they need to mitigate. The bowling, though, is capable of stepping up. Prasidh Krishna comes back home – he plays for Karnataka – and Mohammed Siraj returns to a venue that was his IPL home for the last seven years. Rashid Khan is capable of doing Rashid Khan things irrespective of whether there is grip or turn.
Since IPL 2023, the Chinnaswamy has the fifth-worst average and third-worst economy rate for leg spinners. It’s under this backdrop RCB may wonder if they should hold back Suyash Sharma, while trusting Liam Livingstone and Krunal Pandya to do the job. This could allow them to bring in either Swapnil Singh or Rasikh Dar as the Impact Sub.
RCB vs GT : In the Spotlight: Devdutt Padikkal and Shubman Gill
After struggling for rhythm and stability at Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals, Devdutt Padikkal returns to RCB with renewed impetus on big-hitting from get-go. Traces of this were amply on display against Chennai Super Kings, when he took on the spinners to make a quickfire 14-ball 27. Padikkal has been designated to play the role Shivam Dube plays for CSK. Only time will tell if he is able to deliver with the same kind of consistency.
Shubman Gill‘s start to this season has been promising; he is striking at 173.17 after two games. His struggles in the powerplay and away games, where he averaged just 20.75 with a strike rate of 115.28, hurt GT last year. However, he returns to a high-scoring venue, where he previously scored a 52-ball 104 in the last encounter between the two sides.
RCB vs GT : Vital Stats that matters
- RCB have a 50% win record at home in IPL since 2023. This is the sixth best among all teams. CSK and MI top the charts with a win percentage of 64.70 and 60 respectively.
- Among the 15 batters who scored 175 or more runs in the powerplays in IPL 2024, Gill’s strike rate of 131.08 was the lowest. This year in two games, he is striking at 203.12 in that phase.
- For someone with Tewatia’s ability, he faces fewer deliveries than he should. In 2022, he averaged 12.3 balls per innings. It was 5.7 in 2023, and 14.3 in 2024. With Miller not part of the squad, is there a case for him to bat higher.
- Kohli’s 3456 runs at Chinnaswamy is the most by a player at a venue in T20 cricket. He also has a good record against Gujarat Titans hitting three fifties and one hundred in five innings
- Sai Sudarshan has five fifty-plus scores in his last six innings in the IPL
RCB vs GT : Team News for RCB and GT
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Availability: There are no reported concerns.
Tactics and match-ups: They’d have little reason to change a winning combination that also gives them plenty of balance. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar against Gujarat’s strong top-order will be a match-up to watch out for. While Hazlewood’s hard lengths have worked well in the IPL so far, he could face his stiffest challenge against the likes of Gill, Buttler and Sudharsan who have a positive record against these lengths. However, Bhuvneshwar has a good record against them dismissing Buttler seven times and Gill thrice.
RCB will only probably have to ponder whether Suyash Sharma fits into their plans as an Impact Sub. It’ll likely be a toss-up between him and Rasikh Dar, who brings with him improved death-bowling skills.
Probable XII: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk.), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
Gujarat Titans
Tactics and match-ups: The batting has been shored by the top three that has contributed in both games, allowing them to cross 200 in the first and nearly get there again in the next game. On the bowling front, their spinners could face a stiff challenge on an unforgiving ground against some in-form batters. Rashid Khan and R Sai Kishore against the likes of Rajat Patidar, who is amongst the best spin-hitters going around, could be an action-packed match-up.
Probable XII: Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk.), Sai Sudarshan, Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, R Sai Kishore, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma
RCB vs GT Fantasy XI : Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, Liam Livingstone, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj, R Sai Kishore, Suyash Sharma
RCB vs GT : Probable Best Performers
Probable Best Batter: Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli could be the best batter in the upcoming game against the Gujarat Titans. Kohli, who has been giving good starts to his team, will be confident going ahead. With Bengaluru wicket suiting the batters, Kohli is expected to get runs. In two matches, the batting maestro has scored 90 runs, including an unbeaten 59 against Kolkata Knight Riders in the season opener.
Probable Best Bowler: Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj will have his emotions flowing as he returns to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, but for the Gujarat Titans and not in RCB colours. Siraj, who represented the Bengaluru franchise for seven years, is the third-highest wicket-taker for them with 83 scalps in 87 matches. However, the 31-year-old will be aware of the conditions and give a tough time to the opposition batters. In the game against the Mumbai Indians, Siraj wreaked havoc by picking up two wickets in the powerplay.
RCB vs GT : Match Prediction
Scenario 1
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru win the toss and bowl
- PP Score – 60-70
- GT- 200-215
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru win the match
Scenario 2
- Gujarat Titans win the toss and bowl
- PP score – 70-80
- RCB- 215-230
- Gujarat Titans win the match