That season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru settled at the bottom of the table

In 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will enter the Indian Premier League (IPL) as defending champions. However, it took the team 17 years to lift its maiden IPL title, and in that time, it faced several embarrassing moments. For example, on this day, i.e., March 23, 2019, Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered one of the lowest scores in the history of the IPL.

Bengaluru’s poor batting show

In the first match of the 2019 season against Chennai Super Kings, Bengaluru batted first, and their entire batting line-up collapsed. Virat Kohli went home for six runs, followed by nine players who also departed with single-digit runs, including two ducks. The only notable batting highlight from Bengaluru’s playing XI was off the bat of Parthiv Patel, who scored 29 runs in 35 balls. The team only surpassed 50 runs due to the efforts of the Patels; otherwise, it would have ended up with an even lower score.

(Credit- Moneycontrol)

Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir, who each picked three wickets, put the Bengaluru batters to the test, while Ravindra Jadeja picked two wickets. Apart from Suresh Raina, who bowled one over, none of the other bowlers gave away an economy of more than five, which resulted in Bengaluru’s poor total.

Not an effortless chase

(Credit- Times of India)

Despite only 71 runs to chase, the Chennai Super Kings did not have an easy chase, as the team took 17.1 overs to reach the target. Shane Watson went home for a duck, whereas Ambati Rayudu made 28 runs in 42 balls and Suresh Raina added 19 runs in 21 balls. Kedar Jadhav scored 13 runs in 19 balls, and Ravindra Jadeja needed 15 balls to score six runs—all the batters registered dismal strike rates, but at the end of the day, Chennai reached the target by losing three wickets.

Kohli’s statement and RCB’s horrible season

(Credit- DNA India)

After the game, a disappointed Kohli said, “No team wants to start like this, but the good thing is a game like this is out of the way. I am pretty happy with the attitude the guys showed in the field. I know the batting effort wasn't ideal, but the attitude on the field was great.”

Unfortunately, throughout the season, the team failed to deliver on the pitch, winning only five matches and finishing at the bottom of the table after 14 games.