new delhi, May 8
Despite suffering their fourth defeat of IPL 2026 after losing to Lucknow SuperGiants in a rain-affected clash in Lucknow on Thursday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar insisted his team is not carrying the pressure of defending their IPL 2025 title and is instead focused on winning the trophy again with an attacking approach.
The defeat left RCB in third place on the points table with six wins so far this season. Interestingly, the side had lost only four matches during their title-winning campaign last year, but Patidar made it clear that the team’s mindset remains positive.
“We are not playing as defending champions this season,” he said after the match. “We have the opportunity to become champions once again. We have to play an attacking game. We are not playing with a defensive mindset. This is a new season. What we did was in 2025.”
Patidar also praised LSG pacer Prince Yadav for his impact with the new ball, especially after dismissing Virat Kohli early in the chase.
“I have seen him from the start. He has a lot of variations. He has pace. He has a swing. He is a proper fast bowler,” Patidar said.
The RCB skipper called Prince’s opening spell a turning point in the game.
“One of his qualities is that he trusts his skills,” Patidar said. “That is commendable. I have seen him for a long time. He has given his team [an important early] breakthrough – he is an expert in that. Spot on! I have never seen him give a lot of runs. I think it was a game-changing spell,” he explained.
Chasing 210 in a rain-hit 19-overs-a-side contest, RCB lost Kohli early and managed only 45 for 2 in the powerplay. A slowdown in the middle overs further hurt their chase as they eventually fell short by nine runs despite fighting till the end. Prince, who finished with figures of 3 for 33, downplayed his personal performance after the win.
“I felt good after the [Kohli] wicket. But I am most happy that we won the match. If I had taken the wicket and we had lost, it wouldn’t have been so [good],” he said.
Patidar admitted Mitchell Marsh’s century gave LSG the perfect platform after they posted 209 for 3.
“I will start with Mitchell Marsh. He batted well on this wicket, which was a good batting track. The way he started in the powerplay, I think he put pressure on us,” Patidar said. “[But] after that, the way our bowlers controlled it – there was a break in between and it rained – so we got time to think.
“Overall, the way they started and the way we finished, I think I am very satisfied: the way we bowled, the way we controlled the game. We were two shots behind [in the end]. We lost the match by just nine runs.”
Patidar himself kept RCB in the contest with a quickfire 61 off 31 balls and shared a 95-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal. Later, Tim David smashed 40 off just 17 balls to keep the chase alive, but RCB still needed 20 runs off the final over. Digvesh Rathi held his nerve and conceded only 10.
RCB have enjoyed strong support throughout the season and Patidar said the team never feels like it is playing away from home, even though their remaining two home games will now be held in Raipur.
“We never feel that we are playing an away game. I think this is the speciality of the RCB fans. They come and support us [everywhere],” Patidar said.
