Former Australia captain Aaron Finch sees Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s momentum in this season as more than just good form—he believes it comes from a clear, attacking mindset with the courage to back that plan even when a match is already within reach. His comments followed RCB’s sharp, all-rounding win over the Lucknow Super Giants, where they chased 147 after a disciplined bowling performance and never really looked like switching to a cautious approach.
Instead of easing off once the target looked manageable, Bengaluru kept pushing the tempo throughout the chase. Rajat Patidar, captaining the side, provided a quick burst that set the tone early, while Jitesh Sharma delivered a fearless spell of batting that stood out for its intent. Jitesh struck 23 off nine balls, marking his first double-digit score of the campaign after a run of low returns earlier in the season. As the chase advanced, Tim David and Romario Shepherd finished the job with unbeaten cameos, bringing the pursuit to a close without drama.
Finch said the key difference is how the batting group maintains that aggressive clarity regardless of the context. In his view, Jitesh’s willingness to swing and continue attacking—even after a difficult stretch—reflects the confidence built within the RCB setup. “That’s just a batting unit with a lot of confidence. You can see the gap between the teams on the top of the table and the bottom. That was again evident today. They go with a similar structure on how they go about their run-chases. They go hard even when the game (is in their grasp),” Finch said.
He also underlined that RCB’s players are committed to ending matches in their own style rather than drifting into risk-averse cricket when the numbers start to look comfortable. Finch suggested that, in many teams, a situation like that can tempt a batter to settle for a “nice” unbeaten score, but Bengaluru’s current approach is different. “It would’ve been easy in that situation for one of their batters to get 25 not out, but no, that’s not how they play cricket in Bengaluru now. They continue to stick to their guns, they play to their strengths. If the match up is theirs, they go for it. They put to bed games quite comfortably,” he added.
Finch went further, arguing that the habit of becoming watchful only when things are already under control can quietly damage a team’s identity. “The consequences of when you do that (watchful batting when games are in control), then you lose credibility. (Team-mates might feel that) If someone is prepared to just knock it around and look out for themselves, then, next time they might do that too because they’re worried about next year’s contract. That’s how [team] cultures crumble so quickly. The fact that they went out and did what they talked about – brilliant,” he said.
