Mo Bobat, the director of cricket for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, believes that gaining home advantage at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is not easy.
RCB has struggled to make their home venue a fortress over the years, and this year is no exception. They have the joint-worst home record in IPL 2024, with only one win from three home games, alongside Punjab Kings.
Bobat said on the eve of their next home game, against Sunrisers Hyderabad:
"Winning at home is quite tricky [for us]. It's a sort of ground - because of its small boundaries - that is a bit more of a leveller. So it's quite hard to get home advantage compared to a bigger ground. Or if there are conditions that tilt one way or the other, you can try to build your team to maximise those conditions. So it's a hard thing for us to do.”
RCB have only won one of their six games and are currently at the bottom of the points table. The main reason for this is the lack of runs from their overseas batters, especially Glenn Maxwell.
During the previous IPL season, Maxwell performed exceptionally well, scoring 400 runs at an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 183.48. However, this season, he has only managed to score 32 runs in six innings, with only one instance of lasting beyond five balls. This occurred during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, where he made a 19-ball 28 with the help of two dropped catches. His current average of 5.33 is the lowest among overseas batters who have batted in the top five at least six times in an IPL season.
Mohammed Siraj is experiencing a similar slump in the bowling department. In IPL 2023, he was RCB's highest wicket-taker with 19 scalps at an economy of 7.50. However, this year, he has only managed to pick up four wickets from six games at an economy of 10.40.
In their previous match against Mumbai Indians, RCB attempted to alter their personnel by replacing Cameron Green with Will Jacks. Although this change did not result in immediate success, Bobat remains optimistic that a few victories will set their campaign on the correct path.