New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) Veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar credited Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s tactical clarity and bowling discipline, stating that he and his teammates believed that it was a good toss to lose, as the defending champions stormed into their second successive IPL final with a crushing 92-run victory over Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 at Dharamshala.
RCB piled up a record playoff total of 254/5, powered by captain Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 93 off 39 balls, before bowling Gujarat out for 162 to seal a dominant win on Tuesday.
Interestingly, Bhuvneshwar revealed that several RCB players actually viewed losing the toss as an advantage on what appeared to be a batting-friendly surface at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
“Generally, if you lose the toss on a ground like this, the morale can be down because it’s a good batting wicket, the ball travels and the dew is a factor here. But after the toss, there were four to five players, including me, who thought it was a good toss to lose because on a flat wicket like this, if you put up a big score, the opposition will have to bat really well to chase it down. And with the way we have been bowling and executing, we knew it wouldn’t be easy for them,” Bhuvneshwar told JioStar.
That confidence quickly translated onto the field. RCB’s bowlers dismantled Gujarat’s chase with relentless accuracy after the batting unit had already seized control of the contest. Bhuvneshwar himself removed Gujarat skipper Shubman Gill cheaply before later ending Rahul Tewatia’s resistance with a slower ball.
The experienced pacer also shed light on one of RCB’s major bowling strategies this season, the extensive use of scramble seam deliveries. According to Bhuvneshwar, the approach has been a carefully calculated response to modern batting conditions rather than a random variation.
“We’ve used the scramble seam a lot, looking at the wickets and conditions, and it’s not just me, Josh Hazlewood, Duffy, all of them have done it. When GT bowled, we saw that there wasn’t much swing there. A lot of planning goes into it, when to use it, it’s not random, and it depends on how the wicket is behaving. When there’s a bit of seam or swing in the first six, I try to extract that and try something that will be difficult for batters to hit. So, it’s about being proactive, like batters are these days. If it’s a slow wicket, where the ball might stop on the surface, I may use the knuckle ball sometimes, but mostly it’s the scramble seam, considering the wicket and conditions,” the pacer added.
RCB’s bowling attack once again justified that planning against Gujarat, with Jacob Duffy leading the charge with three wickets, while Bhuvneshwar, Rasikh Salam and Krunal Pandya chipped in with two wickets each.
Bhuvneshwar also reserved special praise for captain Patidar, highlighting the calm leadership style that has helped RCB thrive this season despite the presence of several senior players in the dressing room.
“Rajat is a very simple human being off the field as well. When you become a captain, I can understand, it was his first season and there were many senior players in the dressing room, so he didn’t interfere much. But he is so mature, he knows when to say something, where to give suggestions and when to let the bowlers do their thing.
“Sometimes, when there are so many senior players, you just sit quietly and don’t do anything, but even when I get confused, I ask Rajat to chip in and let him take the call. With the bat, he has his unique playing style. We know that if Rajat is playing, the run rate will be taken care of because of the way he plays. And if you are respected in the dressing room, that’s the best thing, and he has earned that for sure,” he stated.
With both bat and ball clicking at the perfect time, RCB now head into the IPL 2026 final carrying momentum and belief as they chase back-to-back titles.
–IANS
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