3 things RCB need to do right to record first home win in IPL 2025 vs DC ft. Spin bowling options

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be keen on opening their account at home in the 24th match of the Indian Premier League against the Delhi Capitals. They are flying high on the back of their 12-run win over the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.

As they host the Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB's focus will be firmly on repaying the legion of supporters who have turned up for them game after game and giving them something to smile about. They have won three games so far this season, but none have come at home.

While those fans are happy enough at the moment - since RCB are ranked third in the IPL points table - they would like nothing better than to see their team victorious in their own backyard over a team who are ranked a spot above them.

This game will see a massive tussle between these teams, who are both vying for bragging rights over the other. Most importantly, the winner of this game will have a chance to challenge the Gujarat Titans, who are the leaders of the IPL table.

In this listicle, we take a look at three things RCB need to do right in this game.

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#3 Consolidate at the top

RCB's main agenda in this game would be to ensure that they do not lose a flurry of wickets at the top. If they do so, as they did in their previous home game against the Gujarat Titans (GT), they will be in deep trouble. Phil Salt has failed to get going in their last two matches, and will be keen to consolidate the top-order.

By the time the seventh over of that game against GT had been played, RCB had lost four wickets, and that caused them to lose momentum in their innings. Despite Liam Livingstone (54) and Jitesh Sharma (33) rallying their side around, they could only amass 169, which is a meagre total at this venue.

Alongside former India captain Virat Kohli, who has been in fine nick this season, Salt promises to be a big threat to the DC bowlers. With Devdutt Padikkal coming good in their previous game against MI, some of RCB's top-order woes seem to have subsided. However, they cannot afford to get complacent by any means.

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#2 Bowl well inside the powerplay

RCB need to focus a lot on bowling inside the powerplay in this game, and some of the emphasis falls upon the shoulders of captain Patidar, who has to manage his options well. While they have done well in general, against the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians, they conceded 60 and 54 runs respectively when the fielding restrictions were on.

Against DC, the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have to be on the vanguard at all times, while their captain has to be smart enough to introduce options at the right time. Bowling the sixth over of the powerplay has become one of the most challenging tasks in T20 cricket, and this is where the expertise of the captain comes in.

The skipper will have to task any of his moderately successful bowlers to do the job in the sixth over and not allow a new entrant to get taken to the cleaners. Since batters are usually looking to make the most of the last over with fielding restrictions, the bowler has to be smart enough to make variations in pace as well as line and length.

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#1 Manage their spin bowling options

A major reason why RCB have failed to open their account at home this season is due to the lack of depth in their spin bowling options. While Krunal Pandya and Liam Livingstone tried their best to chip in with the ball in hand, they were rather ineffective in their previous game against GT at the Chinnaswamy.

It is a known fact that the small boundaries at this ground sound the death knell to slow bowlers, but if RCB are to overcome this barrier, they will have to come up with better options. Pandya has bowled at an economy rate of 10.30 in this season's IPL, and it might be time for the hosts to give him a rest.

Suyash Sharma conceded eight runs per over against both the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, and might be the better option on this surface. The Chinnaswamy is often known to help wrist spinners who have enough control of their lines and lengths, and Sharma can exploit this to his advantage.