In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have won 6 matches so far, out of which they have achieved 5 wins while chasing the target. At the same time, he has suffered all three defeats this season while defending total. Against RCB on Thursday (April 30), Gujarat Titans (GT) achieved the target of 156 runs in 15.5 overs. GT lost wickets at regular intervals but by registering a win with 25 balls remaining, they exposed RCB’s bowling.

When will RCB learn to defend total?

Defending champion RCB has been able to win only 1 match while defending the total in the current season. RCB got this victory when it had put 250 runs on the board against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Since then, RCB has not won any match while defending the total. Against his bowling, Rajasthan Royals chased the target of 202 runs in 18 overs.

Against Delhi Capitals, RCB was in a winning position while defending the total of 175 runs but David Miller gave them defeat. Miller gave DC victory by hitting two consecutive sixes and then a four against Romario Shepherd, who came to defend 14 runs in the last over. RCB bowled well in this match but they missed the sixth bowler. Suyyash Sharma had given away 31 runs in 3 overs. In such a situation, captain Rajat Patidar handed the ball to Shepherd in the last over but he could not give victory to RCB.

RCB’s batting completely failed against GT in Ahmedabad, due to which it could not score big. Their bowlers did not have that much chance but the way they were beaten while defending small targets has raised question marks. People say that if Patidar does not win the toss and RCB comes to bat first, will this bowling team be able to win?

Now even Hazlewood got beaten

RCB is missing the fifth and sixth bowlers since the beginning of the season. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is bowling brilliantly and is giving early success to the team. RCB’s bowling has strengthened since Josh Hazlewood recovered from injury. He had bowled out Delhi Capitals for 75 runs on their home ground. But now that Hazlewood (0/55) has been beaten against GT, the questions are who will take charge if either he or Bhuvneshwar has a bad day?

The spin pair of Krunal Pandya and Suyyash Sharma has performed satisfactorily so far. Both have divided 16 wickets among themselves and their economy is also below 9. But Shepherds are proving to be quite expensive. He has conceded 12.75 runs per over so far. Shepherd’s economy has decreased slightly after the match against GT, as he took 2 wickets for 30 runs in 4 overs in that match.