Sometimes, a loss helps as much as a win does. That's the sentiment Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) want to channel after a heavy defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2025 game in Lucknow may have stalled their top-two aspirations.
For 14 overs in their chase of 232, RCB had the game by the scruff of the neck. Their batters seemed in perfect symphony. Virat Kohli, fresh off his Test retirement announcement, was flowing. Phil Salt, back after illness, was firing away. Rajat Patidar's injured-and-repaired right hand was looking mobile again. Jitesh Sharma, the stand-in captain, kept reeling one big hit after another.
RCB, who had only ever chased down 200-plus twice in 18 years, were on track to scale a peak. And then they unravelled, as they went from 173 for 3 to 179 for 7 in the space of 12 balls. A march towards the top spot turned into a swift nosedive that has sent them to No. 3, with their net run-rate taking a huge hit in the process too.
But, in the aftermath, there's more reflection than panic.
"I think sometimes losing a game is a very good sign because you can check, analyse where we are lacking," Jitesh said on the broadcast. "If you keep winning, you don't see your mistakes. You keep going with the flow. But I think the positive things are everyone is chipping in.
"I'm batting well, Rajat is batting well - Rajat has come back. Even the bowlers are bowling well. Virat is in form. But after this loss, we will get that light setback to check again, see the set-up, how to get things working again. Once we've got this setback, I think we will go forward again."
Friday's fixture was RCB's first in 20 days. Last week, they had their home fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) washed away by rain. The four days after that were spent indoors, thanks to wet weather in Bengaluru. The break was a lot longer in Salt's case. Having last played on April 24, he spent two weeks on the sickbed before returning re-energised after a short trip home.
"It's a funny one," Salt said in the press conference after his 32-ball 62, his third half-century of the season. "Obviously when you're ill you sit in your bed and wonder if you're ever going to feel better again. You think about all the things you took for granted when you were healthy.
Tom Moody and Anil Kumble take part in the rapid fire
"As a group, we'd not played until tonight in three weeks or so. I don't think I've played in a month, which is a long time. More than anything else, I'm just glad I'm healthy and feeling good and playing another game of cricket."
When they last played, on May 3, RCB had completed a magnificent double over Chennai Super Kings (CSK). While the long break since then has allowed Patidar time to heal sufficiently to at least bat, it has also taken away the winning momentum they were building. Salt underlined the need to quickly get this loss out of the way.
"You don't mind not having this game in the playoffs," Salt said. "You can take it as a disappointment or you can take it for what it is. We've qualified. We've lost a game. No one likes to lose games of cricket. I hate the fact we've lost, as everyone else in an RCB shirt [does].
"[But] you'd rather have that now than you would in an Eliminator, let's say. So, we're going to get an opportunity to pick the bones out of it, have a look at things we did well and things we didn't do so well and come back. We've got one more group game and headed to the playoffs."
Despite that bit of perspective, it's fair to say RCB's journey has hit a bit of a speed bump.
Josh Hazlewood's absence owing to a shoulder niggle is no longer just a missing piece. It feels like a fault line beneath a strong foundation RCB carefully built at the auction. Without him, they lack an all-phase bowler. On Friday, against SRH, they bled 71 in the powerplay and 54 at the death.
Lungi Ngidi hasn't been able to conjure the same kind of intensity or form Hazlewood brought. On Friday, he went for 51 in his four overs. In three days, he too will leave to prepare for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. This will leave RCB's overseas pace stocks worryingly thin, though there is hope that Hazlewood will be around. Nuwan Thushara hasn't played a game yet. Blessing Muzarabani will be straight off a flight following a Test match in England for the next game.
On Friday, they had another massive injury scare. Tim David, a wrecking ball in the death overs with his big hits, limped to the crease dragging an injured hamstring and was barely able to run. He had felt a twinge while fielding and immediately went out. David's role as a finisher has been key to RCB being the best death-overs bating team this season. But this throws a big doubt over his participation in the remainder of the season.
Anil Kumble and Tom Moody review the bowling changes and plans
And it comes amid more departures; Jacob Bethell is done for the season, he has national duties to take care of. Devdutt Padikkal is gone, his injury has opened up No. 3 - a crucial pillar now suddenly fragile. On Friday, Mayank Agarwal, an opener, stepped in as a stop-gap arrangement and looked like he was playing catch-up.
So, unless Hazlewood returns or a Plan B emerges fast, their promising campaign that had their fans dreaming of a maiden title runs the risk of a slow fadeaway, with resources stretched just a little too thin. Yet, Salt isn't panicking.
"Obviously the schedule has done a bit of jumping around," he said. "We've got another opportunity to go out and show ourselves and our fans what we can do before the playoffs begin [against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 27]. I can't speak for anyone else, a lot of times in cricket you do all the preparation, so much that goes into it. Performance on the night, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't happen.
"I can't sit here and tell you we prefer to finish one, two, three, four, five. Honestly, we've qualified for the playoffs. Once you're in you've got to play in a pretty carefree manner and do what you can to win the trophy. We're not too far ahead of ourselves at the moment with that thinking. In a few days we're playing again here in a game we want to win, and show how good we are."