Star Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli shared insights into the team’s strategy that led to their first home win of the IPL 2025 season at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, as they defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, April 24.
After enduring three consecutive home losses—each while batting first—RCB finally turned the tide. Winning the toss proved crucial, and the batting unit capitalised on the opportunity. They posted the venue’s first 200-plus total of the season, finishing with a strong score that gave them a defendable edge. Kohli led the charge with a composed 70 off 52 deliveries, supported well by Devdutt Padikkal.
Batting second is an advantage: Kohli
Kohli stressed the value of sticking to a clear plan and learning from past missteps. “The first challenge here is to win the toss. In the second half, there’s a definite advantage,” he said. “We’ve been fighting hard to get good totals, and today the template worked—one batter bats through, others go hard. That balance clicked.”
He acknowledged the initial challenges with the pitch. “In the first few overs, there’s pace and bounce. Earlier, we tried to force shots too early. This time, we let the ball come to us, adjusted better, and it paid off. We’ve figured out a way to approach our innings here and should be able to push those totals up by 15–20 runs in upcoming games.”
With the ball, Josh Hazlewood starred again, claiming four wickets. Despite RR staying in the chase for most of the innings, Hazlewood’s timely breakthroughs secured an 11-run win for RCB.