Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Hall of Famer AB de Villiers did not take lightly the commentators' negative remarks about RCB's bowling against LSG at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
In a must-win encounter to seal a spot in Qualifier 1, Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced Lucknow Super Giants in their final league match of IPL 2025. RCB bowlers allowed LSG batters to post a total well above par, 227 runs, with Rishabh Pant leading the charge with a century.
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With RCB under pressure and missing their lead bowler Josh Hazlewood, commentators on air criticized the bowling attack, claiming it was getting exposed and looked clueless at the Ekana Stadium.
“Not an Easy Surface”: AB de Villiers Slams RCB Bowling Criticism
Hearing these remarks, former RCB batter AB de Villiers expressed his frustration during an Instagram Live. He defended his former team’s bowlers, saying it wasn’t an easy surface to bowl on and pointed out that Rishabh Pant wouldn’t have scored a century on a tricky pitch.
“They went on about how RCB’s bowling unit was once again in poor form. As I watched the match, I thought: sometimes commentators get fixated on a narrative. Yes, RCB have never won a title, but it’s lazy to keep saying, ‘Here we go again. The bowlers are failing, they’re useless,’ without properly analysing what’s happening on the field. Rishabh Pant is not going to score 118 off 60-odd balls on a tricky, very difficult pitch. All the LSG batters were fluent out there.”
He acknowledged that RCB’s bowling had its flaws but stressed that the team remained competitive and that the surface played similarly in the second innings.
“Yes, there was some poor bowling at times. But ultimately, one must look at the bigger picture 227 runs on a wicket that typically doesn’t support such batting suggests it was simply a very good surface. RCB were still in the contest; they weren’t blown away, and they proved that,” he added.
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Jithesh Sharma Powers RCB Into Qualifier 1
Jithesh Sharma’s 88 (35) proved too much for LSG’s bowling as he played a captain's knock to take RCB home. They defeated LSG by 6 wickets and booked their spot in Qualifier 1.
The Qualifier 1 between RCB and LSG is happening live right now from the Mullanpur Stadium in Punjab. Follow for more live updates of the RCB vs LSG match.
