IPL 2024 RCB vs PBKS Preview - Can RCB establish fortress Bengaluru?

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – M Chinnaswamy IPL records

Pitch stats from the 10 most recent IPL matches played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Team form RCB vs PBKS

RCB: L
PBKS: W

Recent meetings: IPL 2023 RCB won by 23 runs

Weather

General Forecast: Dry and clear
Chance of dew: Low

Preview RCB vs PBKS

If there was one team and one venue that RCB almost certainly didn't want to start their IPL 2024 season against it was CSK in Chepauk. Many of their now familiar and well documented weaknesses were exposed and it's likely that we'll see those middle order shortcomings as well as the lack of high quality frontline spin options come to the surface on multiple other occasions throughout the season too.

That means that if RCB want to make the playoffs this year, they are going to need to make the M Chinnaswamy a fortress and win the majority of their matches here (assuming of course that the schedule for the later part of the tournament keeps them at home).

The stats above show that their powerful top order should be a force to reckon with at this venue and that as we saw last season, this really isn't a stadium where spinners can exert a massive amount of control in the middle overs. The fact that the likes of Hasaranga struggled so badly at the M Chinnaswamy last year was a major factor in RCB opting to release him and then not bring in a big name spiner to replace him. Therefore, they have to make that gamble count by being dominant at home.

Of course, home record is something that PBKS really need to improve on this season too after winning just once at the IS Bindra last season. You wouldn't term their opening game victory against Delhi Capitals as convincing and they'll face much better sides than DC in this tournament but they'll certainly take the victory and it was important to get their IPL record at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium off to a winning start.

PBKS can be happy with the way that they fought back into their opening match after Marsh and Warner had gotten DC off to a fast start. A similar pattern emerged the last time these 2 sides met when Kohli and du Plessis put on 137 for the opening stand before PBKS came back into the match and limited RCB to just 174. It ultimately proved too much for PBKS and I'd be concerned that their batting line-up isn't really strong enough to chase down many above par scores.

Where RCB can be happy, despite defeat in their first match, was with the performance of Rawat and Karthik. RCB's run rate at the death (overs 16 - 20) in IPL 2023 was the 2nd worst in the tournament and that was despite them playing half their games here at the M Chinnaswamy where scoring in that phase of the game was relatively easy. If they can avoid a top order collapse (3 wickets in 7 balls vs CSK on Friday) and maintain that lower order form then they should be well set for this match and beyond.

RCB v PBKS head to head

PBKS bowling vs RCB batting

We know how good the RCB top order can be, particularly in the kind of conditions we are likely to find at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in this match. Du Plessis' record at this venue is formidable, while Virat Kohli is approaching 3000 T20 runs at this ground alone and Glenn Maxwell strikes at 180+ in Bengaluru.

Du Plessis T20 record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium

However, Faf isn't the only South African to enjoy the conditions here. Kagiso Rabada has 7 wickets in the 3 T20 games he's played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the past averaging just 9 and striking once every 8 balls!

It should be noted that all 7 of those wickets came in 2019 and Rabada hasn't really looked like the force that he was at that time in both international T20s and the IPL since joining PBKS. Punjab will be hoping that memories of past glories here as well as some favourable match-ups will reignite his IPL career. As well as his T20 head to head against Kohli below, Rabada also has an excellent record against Glen Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik

Kohli T20 head to head vs Rabada

Returning to the M Chinnaswamy to play against his former employers is Harshal Patel. Again, he was a casualty of Bengaluru's bowling reshuffle over the close season having struggled to contain sides in the later stages of the innings, particularly at this venue. However, were RCB a little hasty in giving the former purple cap winner away?

Harshal Patel T20 bowling record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium

His economy on this ground was 9.9 last season which when you consider that pace bowling as a whole has gone at 9.4 on this pitch over the last 10 IPL games isn't as bad a return as it first seems. Equally, run scoring at the death was only higher at Eden Gardens and the Wankhede last year which is of course when Harshal does most of his work. That does pose the question, can anyone within the current RCB squad perform any better at the M Chinnaswamy with it's true bounce, short boundaries and relative high altitude? We're about to find out...

RCB bowling vs PBKS batting

Further to the points made above about Harshal Patel's performance at this venue is the fact that RCB's current squad, Mohammed Siraj aside, have very little experience of bowling here and on a ground where batsmen can exert immediate pressure, they will have to learn very quickly!

Siraj bowling stats in the powerplay at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in IPL 2023

What you do often get with the pitch here in Bengaluru is a bit of movement early on and Mohammed Siraj was particularly good last season at exploiting that as his powerplay stats from 2023 show.

In just the opening few games of the season so far, we've seen that pace bowlers are looking to exploit the new 2 bouncers in an overs rule to its fullest extend. However, at the time of writing this blog it was RCB's attack that really looked to utilise that tactic to its fullest extend in their game against CSK. Whether they seek to do the same in this game remains to be seen but I'd suggest that it needs to be utilised only against specific players in certain conditions.

I'm not sure that trying to bounce out the likes of Livingstone and Bairstow for example on this venue is going to work. Livingstone's strike rate against anything around shoulder height is exceptional, while India and indeed New Zealand fans only need to cast their minds back to the Test series in 2022 where Bairstow flayed both attacks when they attempted to bounce him out.

Bairstow combined T20 head to head vs Maxwell and Karn Sharma

RCB's reliance on the short ball in that first game is also symptomatic of a lack of other options, particularly in that middle over phase. Whether this PBKS batting line-up is really good enough to exploit that remains to be seen but when you look at the admittedly small sample size that the likes of Jitesh Sharma, Livingstone and Bairstow have against much of RCB's options in the 7 to 15 over phase then there is the potential for them to do some damage.

All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
IPL player head to head records
IPL player records by stadium
IPL stadium records.
Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and highlights within GIFs which are not intended to infringe copyright- read full disclaimer. Background images are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free.