Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar said his side is not carrying the burden of being the defending champions despite their nine-run defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on Thursday.
“We’re not playing as defending champions this season. We have an opportunity to become champions once again,” Patidar said after the match.
“So we don’t have any mindset that we have to defend. We have to play an attacking game, and with an attacking mindset, we have another opportunity to become champions again this year.
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“So, as I think, defensive mindset or defensive frame of mind, we don’t have, that we have to defend.
“What we did was in 2025, and this is a new season. So we’re trying to be as present as possible for the team.”
RCB fell short by nine runs while chasing in Lucknow despite staying in the hunt to track the score down. Patidar, however, felt the game was decided by fine margins.
“I’ll start with Mitchell Marsh. He did great batting on this wicket. The wicket was also a good batting track, and the way he started in the powerplay, I think he put pressure on us,” he said.
“I think the way we bowled, the way we controlled the game, just like in the game, I felt like we were two shots behind with just those runs. I think that was the match.”
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Patidar also praised Prince Yadav, who returned figures of 3/33 and played a key role in LSG’s victory.
“We played a lot of domestic matches with Prince in Delhi. So I’ve been watching him since the start,” Patidar said.
“He has a lot of variations, he has pace, the way he puts the line, he has swing with the new ball. So overall, he’s a proper fast bowler.
“Even today, he bowled really well, especially the slowers that he tried. I think that was a game-changing spell from him.”
RCB next take on Mumbai Indians in Raipur on Sunday.
