Rivalries are an important subplot in the Indian Premier League. The buzz for the games and the various mediums of revenue generation depends on such rivalries. However, there is one rivalry that has gone off the radar in IPL history. In this article, we take a look at seven times when RCB lost to SRH in a crucial IPL game.
The under-rated rivalry in IPL
The Chennai Super Kings – Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings – Royal Challengers Bangalore rivalries are popular in the competition. However, one other rivalry is equally gaining prominence. Sunrisers Hyderabad and RCB have clashed often in important encounters, and this clash is receiving popularity off-late.
The games have gone to the wire, and most importantly, the online fan wars for this rivalry has picked up steam in recent years. Both teams being from the southern part of India, the “derby” narrative is also finding the surface.
RCB lost to SRH in many crucial encounters
The Hyderabad-based franchises have had an edge over RCB in IPL history. While Deccan Chargers won six out of the eleven games against RCB, SRH has a record of eleven wins in 20 encounters. For RCB, both these teams have been a thorn whenever they wanted to progress in the competition. We take a look at seven times when RCB lost to SRH in a crucial game.
The first occasion was in 2009 when Deccan Chargers defeated RCB by a slight margin in the final. Next up, in 2012, DC defeated RCB in the last league game and hence, the latter team lost in the playoff race by NRR.
In 2013, SRH and RCB were involved in a knockout league game to decide the final four. SRH defeated RCB in that encounter. Two years later, SRH lost a league game to Mumbai Indians, and because of this, RCB could not reach the Top 2.
SRH defeated RCB in the final of 2016, and this was a massive blow. In 2020, they again defeated RCB in an important encounter. This was an eliminator game and RCB was knocked out. The seventh occurrence was in IPL 2021 when SRH handed a loss to RCB in the penultimate league game, and hence, RCB could not reach the Top 2.
