Bengaluru, 16 April 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have upended the history book to win three home games in a row in IPL 2026, and their pacers’ immaculate outing is the most gratifying factor behind this mini streak.

The RCB bowlers conquered opponents as varied as Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants with comfortable margins at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In contrast, RCB had lost three home matches during IPL 2025 and it remained a small blot on an otherwise fabulous run to their maiden title.

Before this season started, RCB had an unflattering record of 46 defeats and 45 wins here from 96 matches unlike Mumbai Indians or CSK, whose home grounds are generally their fortress.

The first hint of turnaround came on 28 March when Jacob Duffy barged through SRH’s top-order with a three-wicket haul.

Duffy was a back-up option for rehabilitating Josh Hazlewood but no less in pedigree as he had held the No. 1 spot in the ICC T20 rankings for bowlers back in 2025.

“He’s got pace, he’s got bounce, also he moves sideways. Duffy’s height and high delivery point add to the arsenal he brings to the mix. It can be a key factor,” RCB head coach Andy Flower had said after signing Duffy.

All those qualities were evident when he bounced out Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

In some ways, Duffy was just following the ethos of Hazlewood here, hitting the hard lengths.

“I am just keeping the big man’s seat warm! Josh had a really good season here last year, so it was about building on what he did well and trying to replicate that in my own way. I had a basic template coming into that tournament,” Duffy had said after the match against Hyderabad.

Duffy, however, had to vacate the seat once Hazlewood returned, and the Aussie made his impact felt immediately.

The strapping quick terrorised Lucknow Super Giants top-order with those heavy balls and bounce from the three-quarter length, and even dealt a crushing blow on the left elbow of Rishabh Pant, which restricted his participation in the match.

It was hardly surprising to see him walking away with the man of the match award after a wonderful spell of 4-0-20-1.

Hazlewood pitched an astounding 23 deliveries on his specialised length on Wednesday night, leaving the batters in a cramped space even when they knew what he was doing.

“I don’t have the skills of a Bumrah or others with slower balls. I keep working on a few different things in training all the time and, hopefully, bring them in when we need them.

“In this game (vs LSG), it was more about being accurate, hitting the right length, even using a few cross-seam deliveries and just keeping it simple,” Hazlewood told JioStar.

RCB vice-captain Jitesh Sharma underlined that point.

“I think he is looking more sharp. His body has got rest after that (injury break). So, he has become quicker, fitter and he is very confident about his body now. It’s showing in his bowling,” said Jitesh in the post-match press conference.

Another man who has kept it simple then is Bhuvneshwar Kumar as he complemented Hazlewood with a three-wicket haul.

But unlike his colleague, Bhuvneshwar unfurled an assortment of slower bouncers, yorkers, knuckle balls to keep LSG batters in check.

“Bhuvi summed up the conditions in the first over, and then there were a few field changes. The communication within the bowling group, in particular, especially from Bhuvi, who bowls first up, is a real strength of ours,” said Hazlewood.

These are veterans who have mastered several battles in their respective careers.

But RCB will also be delighted to see someone like Rasikh Salam walking away with a four-wicket haul, and keeping LSG batters mum in the death overs.

The 26-year-old nailed a series of full length deliveries to take three wickets between the 16th and 20th overs.

It has helped RCB overcome the absence of controversialpacer Yash Dayal, who was impressive for them in 2025, to a good extent.

So, the regular and back-up pacers have pulled their weight together to exorcise the ‘home venue’ jinx.

The opponents will know that they can't hope to conquer RCB at home as well, and they are now a fearsome unit across grounds in India.