The well-known Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) phrase, Ee sala cup namde, which translates to "this year the cup is ours," has been well-known in IPL for a long time. But RCB's men's team has not won the trophy even once. Yet, Ambati Rayudu believes that 2025 will be the year they will take it home, after 18 long years. At the timeout show at ESPNcricinfo, Rayudu said: "If you look at their team, they have a pretty set combination. If you see the teams that are not doing well in the IPL, they are still trying their combinations. But RCB is one team, along with Delhi [Capitals (DC) and Punjab [Kings (PBKS)] to some extent, who have got their combinations well set for the season." He added: "I have always enjoyed their [RCB's] cricket. We have fun at their expense, only because nobody talks about DC or Punjab. Only because RCB always has a team that can win the IPL. But somehow, they come short because of their own shortcomings. Nobody else defeats them, it's them. But this year, with [Rajat] Patidar [as captain], ee sala cup RCB de (this year the cup is RCB's)." Watch the video here: 'Say it, Ambati' 😂 #TimeOut | #MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/F2Dcj98lJ2 — ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 8, 2025 With Patidar leading them, RCB have triumphed in all three of their away game, in Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai, breaking their years long Jinx at Chepauk and Wankhede. They have lost only one game at home. Having defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by 12 runs on Monday, RCB are now third on the points table. Only net run rate keeps the top three teams apart — Delhi Capitals (DC), Gujarat Titans (GT), and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Also Read | 'You need to keep evolving': Virat Kohli on his fastest IPL fifty since 2018 Patidar's Captaincy Assisted RCB Defeat MI Sanjay Bangar concurred with Rayudu and appreciated Patidar's captaincy throughout the match against MI. Mumbai was chasing 222 and required 138 runs from the final ten overs. They subsequently required only 52 runs from four overs with six wickets remaining. At that point, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya seemed set to win the game. But Patidar's strategic deployment of bowlers worked in RCB's favor. He assigned the 16th and 18th overs to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the 19th to Josh Hazlewood. In the last over, he handed the ball over to left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya. Although unexpected, Krunal bowled tightly, took three wickets, and held 18 runs. Bangar mentioned that having five bowlers alone was in the favor of RCB because Hardik Pandya had too many bowling options at his disposal for MI, and they failed to utilize them appropriately.