Shankar Mahadevan paid tribute to the Indian Armed Forces during the IPL 2025 closing ceremony before the final. The closing ceremony started at 6 p.m. IST, one and a half hours before the final on June 3, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Shankar Mahadevan performed alongside his sons, Shivam and Siddharth. Their performance was well received and honoured the Indian Armed Forces. The event also featured a special dance performance with dancers dressed in the colours of the Indian flag. A helicopter show was part of the ceremony as well.The official IPL account shared a video of the tribute on X, formerly Twitter, capturing the patriotic spirit of the performance.
Watch Video Here:
The two teams met earlier in the playoffs during Qualifier 1 at Mullanpur. Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings by eight wickets. Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma took three wickets each to bowl Punjab out for 101. Bengaluru chased the target in just 10 overs. Phil Salt scored an unbeaten 56 off 27 balls. Punjab Kings bounced back by beating Mumbai Indians by five wickets in Qualifier 2 at Ahmedabad. Bengaluru hold the upper hand in recent matches against Punjab, having won four of the last five IPL games between the two sides. However, the final presents a new challenge. Both teams are aiming to win their first-ever IPL trophy. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have previously played in three finals, while Punjab Kings reached their only final in 2014.
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RCB vs PBKS IPL 2025 Toss Update:
Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to bowl first. Skipper Shreyas Iyer said it is an amazing day with an electrifying crowd. Both teams will play with unchanged line-ups.
Here are the playing XIs and impact substitutes for both teams:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Playing XI
Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
Punjab Kings Playing XI
Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Substitutes
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Suyash Sharma
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlet, Harpreet Brar
