Every IPL Team plays it’s opponent twice in the competition, once at home ground and once away. Each Team tries its best to make the maximum use of home conditions and strategies accordingly. Winning most home matches and trying best for a few away wins have been a standard strategy in the IPL. In this series, we look at each team and its relationship with its home venue and its likely strategy this year.
The M.Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore for a brief while was known as the Bowler’s graveyard. The shorter boundaries, faster outfields, dead pitch and altitude that carries the ball higher meant that 200+ run-chases were not far away and in fact, they were a reality in the IPL. Last season, the ground underwent major changes and the game became even, putting the bowlers back in the fray.
The IPL home team Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered the consequences. The batting-heavy team did not possess the bowlers with the skill-set that would be effective on a such a pitch. Hence, despite having Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle in their squad RCB ended last in the 2017 IPL.
The KSCA Ground, later named as the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium made its Test debut in the year 1974 as it hosted a Test match between India and West Indies. Incidentally, two West Indians also made their debut in the same Test – Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards. The ground has hosted the last Test of Sunil Gavaskar, 1996 Quarterfinal between India and Pakistan and few World Cup matches in 2011. For the drainage facility that it currently boasts, Chinnaswamy is one of the best grounds in India today.
RCB Record at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore (All Seasons)
| Year | Played | Win | Loss | Win % |
| 2008 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14 |
| 2010 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 57 |
| 2011 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 83 |
| 2012 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 43 |
| 2013 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 88 |
| 2014 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 43 |
| 2015 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40 |
| 2016 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 57 |
| 2017 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17 |
The RCB team’s fortune has swung dramatically at their home ground. In the first season, they had a great Test team but not a good T20 team hence the poor result. 2011 and 2013 were their strongest seasons will Gayle, Kohli and ABD launching the ball regularly in the stands. It was the 2013 season that witnessed Gayle’s 175* – the world record T20 score.
The worst season in terms of the home performance for RCB was definitely their first one. In 2017 also they suffered a lot of embarrassment, the most notable of them being all out on 49 in Kolkata. Their home ground was not the batting paradise anymore and with a not-so-lethal bowling attack, they suffered a great deal.
Pitch Condition:
The M.Chinnaswamy pitch has changed quite a lot over the past few years. Last year it was slow and we did not see the usual high-scores that we are accustomed to. This time it is likely to be quicker than last year so improved scores will be seen. In the ODI played between India and Australia in September’17 both sides scored over 300 runs.
For IPL 2018:
The RCB team management did a fabulous job in the auction this year and packed their bowling line-up which had been a problem area for quite a few years. Interestingly, they picked every bowler who was a part of bowling RCB out for 49.
They possess a brilliant combo of spinners in Chahal and Washinton Sundar, they also have fast bowlers like Tim Southee, Chris Woakes, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav etc. The balanced bowling attack should see them through any sort of pitch condition.
