3 min learnApr 18, 2026 10:20 PM IST
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) suffered their first residence lack of IPL 2026, shedding a last-over thriller to Delhi Capitals on Saturday. Romario Shepherd was entrusted with defending 15 runs within the final over, however couldn’t execute as David Miller smashed him for 2 sixes and a 4 to shut out the match.
RCB Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, mentioned that the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar needed to be bowled sooner than common for the facet to remain within the sport, which finally led to Shepherd bowling the final over.
“There comes some extent in a sport the place you’re feeling such as you’re behind the sport. So, to get your self again in that sport or perhaps even get forward of the sport, it’s a must to use your champion bowlers,” Bobat mentioned within the post-match press convention.
“So, we felt that we needed to bowl each Hazlewood and Bhuvi once we did, to attempt to make it as troublesome as potential later within the sport. Clearly, that includes a little bit of a danger. It was a troublesome ask for Romario, bowling that final over to 2 worldwide batters and two worldwide finishers. So, it was at all times going to be a troublesome ask, however we needed to take the sport as deep as potential,” he added.
RCB completed with a rating of 175 runs after 20 overs on a floor the place stroke-making was not at all times simple below the new solar. Bobat admitted that the reigning champions might have gotten a much bigger rating within the first innings.
“I wouldn’t put a quantity on it, however my intuition is we had been quick with the bat. I feel we must always have gotten extra runs than we bought. I wouldn’t essentially put a quantity on it. The boys did a superb job of attempting to defend it, however not fairly adequate,” he mentioned.
One of many positives, regardless of the loss, was the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took three wickets within the powerplay. Bobat felt that the 36-year-old was bowling with extra zip than in IPL 2025.
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“He was sensible right this moment. I really suppose he’s bought a bit extra zip than final season. That early spell from him bought us going and gave us an opportunity of defending that rating. He’s somebody we are able to depend on, both finish of the innings, and he has backed it up each sport to this point. It’s good having somebody within the assault who’s reliable, has new ball abilities, can bowl by the center and the loss of life. He offers us the whole lot throughout phases,” he added.