“England toh FIFA World Cup jeeti hai” - RCB coach’s stunning statement on trophy drought ahead of IPL 2025 playoffs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) spin bowling coach Malolan Rangarajan was presented with a bizarre question relating the franchise's trophy drought to the one the England national men's football team are currently facing. The Rajat Patidar-led side are in search of their maiden title since the IPL's inception in 2008, and have a chance to end the plight after qualifying for the playoffs in the 2025 edition.
RCB have a chance of finishing in the top two and have two opportunities of making it to the final in the playoff stage. The fate rests in their own hands as a win in their last league stage fixture against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium on Tuesday, May 27, will set up a Qualifier 1 clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
During the pre-match press conference in Lucknow, a reporter highlighted the England football team's trophy drought, and asked whether RCB are in a similar situation and under pressure to end it.
"Sir, England toh FIFA World Cup jeeti hai, RCB abhi tak jeeti nahi hai IPL, toh vaisa pressure nahi hai. (England have won the FIFA World Cup, but RCB have not won the IPL yet, so there is not that kind of a pressure). England had won in 1960 (1966), with George Best and all, so there is no relation to that pressure and what we are facing," the RCB coach replied.
"The reality is that we have not won the IPL yet. So, according to that we are seeing what we can do right to become a more consistent and better team. If you see the last five-six years, RCB have become a more consistent franchise," he added.
England have come agonisingly close to silverware in recent years. They have finished as runners-up in the previous two editions of the EUROS, losing to Italy and Spain in 2021 and 2024, respectively. In the FIFA World Cup, they made it to the semi-finals of the 2018 edition, and the quarter-finals of the 2022 edition, before being knocked out by Croatia and France, respectively.
RCB have featured in three IPL finals to date
RCB made it to the finals twice across the first four IPL editions, but lost out to Deccan Chargers and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). After a rather lean patch, the franchise made it to the finals in the 2016 edition, only to lose to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Since then, RCB have qualified for the playoffs four times, but never in the top two. They have failed to clear the Eliminator and the Qualifier 2 hurdles on each occasion, including last season where they lost to the Rajasthan Royals (RR).