Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be squaring-off at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh in the qualifier-1 of the IPL 2025 today. The winner of the match will secure a place in the final to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on June 3.
PBKS and RCB have enjoyed a remarkable run this year and finished first and second on the IPL points table respectively. Both teams ended the group stage with 19 points and were only separated by net run rate. Even the net run rate was too close to separate the two sides. The Kings had a superior net run rate of +0.372 against +0.301 net run rate of Royal Challengers.
But the sole focus on the minds of Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar, the two competing captains in today’s fixture, will be on ending their team’s prolonged wait for an IPL title. Under Shreyas’ captaincy, PBKS has qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Rajat, in his first stint as the captain of RCB, has steered his side to a top-two finish for the first time since 2016.
Punjab Kings (previously known as Kings XI Punjab) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (previously known as Royal Challengers Bangalore) were two of the eight teams that participated in inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. Since then they have seen Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) win the IPL title five times each. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the IPL in 2012 and 2014 and won the league again in 2024. Gujarat Titans (GT), a team founded as recently as 2022, won the IPL in 2023, its debut season.
All this while PBKS and RCB kept having their own stories of near misses. PBKS finished runners-up in 2014 when they lost that year’s final to KKR. RCB have had to endure the crushing pain of losing an IPL final three times. In 2009 they lost the final against Deccan Chargers. Two years later they tasted the defeat at the hands of CSK. In 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad lifted the IPL trophy at their expense.
With the finish line so near and first IPL title almost in sight, the teams will be banking on their key players to deliver the goods.
Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli, the two batting powerhouses, will be expected to do the bulk of their scoring for their respective sides.
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Shreyas and Virat, in fact, are this season’s leading run-scorers for Punjab and Bengaluru respectively. Shreyas has accumulated 514 runs in 14 games at an average of 51.40 and has a strike rate of 171.90. He has crossed the 50-run mark five times this year with his highest being 97 not out. He has hit 38 fours and 31 sixes along the way. Virat, in his 18th year as an RCB player, is the season’s fifth highest run-scorer. The veteran batter has amassed 602 runs in 13 games. He has averaged 60.20 and has a strike rate of 147.91. His best performance with the bat was an innings of 73 not out. Thus far he has hammered 61 fours and 19 sixes.
Shreyas and Virat will play the role of the anchors with the power hitters batting around them.
Prabsimran Singh, breakout star Priyansh Arya, Marcus Stoini and Josh Inglis are batters in the Punjab side who have the ability to send the ball beyond the boundary rope almost at will. For Bengaluru, the same can be expected from the likes of Philp Salt, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd.
The two sides look evenly matches in their batting abilities, so it is very likely that the onus will be on the bowlers to settle the fate of the match. Here, RCB looks to have a slight edge over PBKS.
RCB’s bowling quartet of Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal, have each picked at least 10 wickets this year. Hazlewood is the team’s most successful bowler this term with 18 scalps. The Aussie pacer has recovered from a shoulder niggle and is expected to spearhead the team’s bowling attack. He has been well supported by Bhuvneshwar, whose vast IPL experience, will come handy in a crunch match like this. Krunal and Yash, have punched above their weights and added immense value to RCB with their left-arm spin and left-arm medium pace bowling styles.
For Punjab, the Indian duo of Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal, will be entrusted upon to contain the RCB bowlers. Arshdeep has claimed 18 wickets while Chahal has picked 14 scalps. They are the only genuine wicket takes that the team can boast of. Beyond them, the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai Harpreet Brar and Kyle Jamieson, will have to back the Indian pair.
Punjab Kings Possible XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak/Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Possible XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Mayank Agarawal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (c), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara/Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Head-to-head:
Matches Played: 35
Royal Challengers Bengaluru wins: 17
Punjab Kings wins: 18
Form Guide:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: W-L-W-W-W
Punjab Kings: W-L-W-W-W
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk
