3 eerie similarities between RCB’s April 18 match of IPL 2025 and 2008

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) played their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday, April 18. Coincidentally, they played their first-ever IPL game on April 18, 2008.

Both these matches were played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In 2008, RCB hosted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the first match in the history of the IPL. In that game, KKR smashed 222/3 after being asked to bat first. In reply, the home team was bundled out for a paltry total of 82, losing by 140 runs.

18 years later on the same date at the same venue, RCB played PBKS. It was a rain-affected game and a 14-overs-per-side affair. Batting first, Bengaluru could muster only 95/9. PBKS chased down the total in 12.1 overs with five wickets to spare.

The home side lost on both occasions on the same date 18 seasons apart. However, there are a few more eerie similarities between these two IPL games that Bengaluru played on April 18 in 2025 and 2008. That said, let us find out what they are in this article.

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#3 RCB were 43/7 in nine overs in their batting innings

2025 IPL - Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Punjab Kings - Source: Getty

During the IPL 2008 clash against KKR, RCB were chasing a mammoth total of 222. It turned out to be a nightmare for the home team as their batters collapsed, losing wickets in heaps right from the start of the innings. At the end of nine overs, they had lost seven wickets in the chase with just 43 runs on the board.

In the game against PBKS as well, they failed to put up a strong batting display and faced a collapse similar to that of the game in 2008. Even on this occasion, the hosts faced a similar situation, where they were reduced to 43/7 after the end of nine overs during their innings.

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#2 Virat Kohli getting out for 1 run batting at No. 3

2025 IPL - Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Punjab Kings - Source: Getty

Star RCB batter Virat Kohli is the only player to play all 18 IPL seasons for the same franchise. In an eerie similarity, Kohli made the same number of runs batting at same positions in both these games from 2008 and 2025. He also got out to a pacer trying to play a similar type of shot.

In the game against KKR in 2008, Kohli was dismissed for just one run batting at number three. He tried to pull a delivery from outside off only to chop it back onto the stumps off pacer Ashok Dinda's bowling. Against PBKS, he batted at number three and got out just after scoring one run. He was dismissed off pacer Arshdeep Singh's bowling, trying to play a pull shot only to top-edge it.

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#1 All opposition wickets were picked up by pacers

2025 IPL - Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Punjab Kings - Source: Getty

All the wickets of the opposition batters were picked up by RCB's pacers alone in both these games. In the game against KKR, they managed to scalp only three wickets. Pacers Zaheer Khan, Ashley Noffke and Jacques Kallis bagged a wicket apiece.

Similarly, they picked up five wickets in the game against PBKS, all of which were claimed by pacers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged two, returning with figures of 2/26 from three overs while Josh Hazlewood picked up three, returning with figures of 3/14 from his three overs.