On any given day during the summer, the energy levels at M Chinnaswamy Stadium can act as a catalyst for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Speaking strictly of atmosphere, the franchise can stand on an equal footing with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. Despite the trophy-less years, it still enjoys a fanatical following with the decibel levels at the stadium on match days capable of intimidating noise. Perhaps as intimidating as Chepauk when it clears its throats as MS Dhoni takes guard or Wankhede when Rohit Sharma tees off.
But the Chinnaswamy stadium is nowhere close to being an intimidating venue for the opposition from a cricketing perspective. Thanks to the venue’s history of offering flat decks to go with short boundaries on all sides, it is a stadium where opposition teams take the field fully aware that they have an even chance. As RCB head into the 17th season of the Indian Premier League, their win percentage at Chinnaswamy Stadium reads 46.51. To put it in perspective, Chennai has a win percentage of 70.96 at Chepauk, Mumbai 62.33 at Wankhede, Sunrisers Hyderabad 62% at Uppal and Kolkata Knight Riders 57.31 at Eden Gardens.
To put it simply, in the most competitive T20 tournament in the world, where home advantage makes a big difference, the Chinnaswamy stadium remains slippery ground for RCB. Since the start of the 2011 season, only twice have they lost just one game at the home venue (2011 & 2013). They have lost four home games three times – in 2012, 2016 and 2023. And in the 2017 season when they finished at the bottom of the table, they went through the season without a home win.
Hear the roar and feel the power,
Royal Challengers are in the house this hour!
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— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 19, 2024
Unlike Chepauk, where Dhoni will use spinners to strangle oppositions and Wankhede where Mumbai will use pacers who extract bounce to good effect, RCB captains have not really had any such luxuries. With 65m-long square boundaries in a format where horizontal bat shots are most common, anything that is pitched remotely in the short-pitched zone tends to disappear into the top tier of the stadium. And with the straight boundaries being only 70m, good length and full deliveries have often found their destination on the roof.
With such short boundaries, even quality bowlers have struggled at the venue. Yuzvendra Chahal, one of the most big-hearted leg-spinners who is brave enough to operate on a line outside off-stump, picked up 51 wickets for RCB at Chinnaswamy. That the next best in franchise history is Vinay Kumar’s 26 tells a story of the daunting task of bowling at the venue. It is the reason that every season, RCB’s home games have become a shoot-out between two batting units.
King in his Kingdom 👑
Virat is back in Chinnaswamy 🥹🏡
📍 Johnnie Walker presents #RCBUnbox powered by @kotak_life and @Duroflex_world has just begun!#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 (1/2) pic.twitter.com/HkJr1dS2Lc
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 19, 2024
It’s a venue where even a total of 200 is not safe. In 2018, after RCB piled on 205/8 and reduced CSK to 74/4 by the 9th over, a famous derby win was on cards. But coming in at No 6, Dhoni scored an unbeaten 70 off 34 deliveries to pull off a stunning win. And a year earlier, Mumbai who were 7/4 and later 33/5 in a chase of 142, ended on the winning side with Kieron Pollard scoring 70 at No 6. No other venue offers opposition teams that are down and out to make a comeback with the bat like Chinnasway does.
That RCB have only banked on flat decks and often taken the field with a bowling unit that seldom compliments the conditions has not helped their cause. On such venues, having bowlers with an X-factor could be a game-changer of sorts, especially since the margin of error is too small at the venue. A mystery spinner or an out-and-out pacer, who can clock 150 kmph, may be capable of making a difference. But barring Mitchell Starc, RCB have seldom had such bowlers in their ranks.
𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐓 🤩
For every role, we’ve found our match
And we believe they can hit the Purple Patch!
Signed today or retained before,
This is our #𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗢𝗳𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰#PlayBold #BidForBold #IPLAuction #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/5bskDt4eGa— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) December 19, 2023
This season, they have looked to address the issue at the auction table, bringing in Lockie Ferguson and Alzarri Joseph, two pacers who are quicker through the air and can push batsmen onto the backfoot. But whether they are capable of finding the control that is needed to succeed at the venue remains the question for RCB.
Maximising home advantage is part of the success formula of CSK and MI. Each season they target a minimum of five home wins. That often leaves them needing only three away victories to get to the play-offs. It is a code that RCB will hope to crack this season as it searches for its maiden IPL title.
(with inputs from Lalith Kalidas)
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