(LEFT) KL Rahul of Delhi Capitals celebrates their win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium; (RIGHT) RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik.

(Photo: Sportzpics for IPL)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru mentor Dinesh Karthik pointed at the pitch in the post-match conference as he tried to explain their defeat to the Delhi Capitals on Thursday evening. After reaching 61 without losing a wicket, Bengaluru's innings hit turbulence with the scoreboard soon reading 74/3. Opener Phil Salt (37) and Tim David (unbeaten 37) were RCB's top scorers on the night as the hosts managed to score 163/7.

In response, Delhi chased down the target with six wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare, thanks to KL Rahul's 53-ball, 93-run blitz.

The defeat meant that RCB have now lost both their games at home in IPL 2025. Against the Gujarat Titans too, in their first home game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB had managed just 169/8 batting first.

"In the first two games, we have asked for good pitches. But it's turned out in this way where it's been challenging to bat on. So, we try to do the best with whatever we get. But we will obviously have a chat with him (curator). We trust him to do his job," said Karthik in the post-match press conference.

"Definitely, this is not a pitch that's helping the batters too much. It's a challenging pitch. So, that has been the case so far in both the games that we have played."

Karthik also explained that it was hard for RCB batters to rotate strike on the Chinnaswamy pitch.

"I think with every pitch, we'll try and understand what's the best way to play. I don't think we have one set template that is how we want to go out there and play. It's important to adapt and understand what the pitch is. But it's been hard to, at times, rotate strike.

And the big shot has been really hard as well. But in the end, it's a T20. You have to play some shots and that has gotten the wicket of a few batters," he detailed.