‘We Made Them Fight’: RCB Highlight Positives After GT Defeat

Royal Challengers Bengaluru may have fallen to a four-wicket defeat against Gujarat Titans, but the team management highlighted their spirited bowling effort as a major positive after a disappointing outing with the bat in Ahmedabad.

After posting a modest total of 155 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, RCB's bowlers kept the contest alive by applying pressure through the middle overs and forcing Gujarat Titans to work hard for the chase.

Head coach Andy Flower admitted that the batting unit fell short of expectations but praised the intensity shown in the field.

"That's not the result we came here for, and the truth is we weren't at our best with the bat."

Batting collapse proved costly

RCB's innings showed promise early on, particularly through Virat Kohli's aggressive start, but repeated wicket losses prevented the side from building meaningful partnerships.

Director of Cricket Mo Bobat acknowledged that the team left runs on the table with an underwhelming batting performance.

"It's a disappointing result, not the result we wanted coming here, and not quite the performance we wanted either. You don't win too many games with scores like that, so the batting group will know that we are capable of better."

Dinesh Karthik also pointed to the lack of partnerships as the defining factor in the defeat, despite Kohli's quick-fire start.

"Virat started wonderfully, vintage Virat, especially that over against Rabada. But we lost wickets in a cluster. Every time we had an opportunity to get ahead and build a partnership, we lost a wicket, and that eventually caught up with us."

RCB Bowling effort earns praise despite defeat

While the batting struggles hurt RCB's chances, the bowling unit's fightback earned strong praise from the team leadership.

Flower highlighted the fielding and bowling effort as one of the most encouraging aspects of the performance.

"What I did like was how the guys went about it in the field."

Karthik echoed that sentiment, emphasising the attitude shown by the bowlers in pushing Gujarat Titans deep into the chase.

"What was commendable to see was the attitude and the bowling coming together. Like a champion team would, we gave them jitters through the middle. If a couple of things had gone our way, who knows how it would have gone. I'm very proud of the effort and the attitude the boys showed."

Romario Shepherd's performance also stood out, with the all-rounder picking up two key wickets to keep RCB in the contest.

"The pleasing and encouraging thing is that the bowlers put in a good shift again today. It was good to see Romario find rhythm too. We made them fight, and that's important in games like this," Bobat said.

RCB look to regroup ahead of next fixture

Despite the loss, the RCB camp stressed the importance of learning from setbacks and maintaining competitiveness in difficult matches.

Bobat underlined the team's focus on bouncing back stronger in the upcoming games.

"You're not going to win every game, but in games where you come out second best, you have to fight for the win, and I think we did that today. We'll take a few days, come back sharper and focus on the next game."