Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and chose to bowl first against Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 on Thursday. The match is being held at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. RCB captain Rajat Patidar returned to lead the side and made one change to the playing eleven. Josh Hazlewood came in for Nuwan Thushara. Punjab Kings also made a change with Azmatullah Omarzai replacing Marco Jansen, who left for national duty.
Patidar said the pitch looked hard with a good grass cover and that he hoped to take early advantage with the ball. “Everyone gave more than 100 percent in the last game. Jitesh, Salt and Kohli were tremendous,” he said at the toss. Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer said he would have opted to bowl first as well but remained confident despite batting first. “The crowd has been tremendous and gives us a lot of energy. Our openers have shown a fearless approach and a brilliant attitude,” Iyer said.
Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have long faced criticism for never winning an IPL title. However, both teams have emerged as top contenders this season. This is PBKS's first playoff appearance in more than a decade under new head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Iyer. RCB, meanwhile, finished in the top two for the first time since 2016.
Read Also | Big Match Player: Will RCB skipper Patidar strike a knockout blow after recent dip in form
Playing XIs:
Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Impact Substitutes:
PBKS: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett
RCB: Mayank Agarwal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh
Pitch and Weather Report:
The pitch at Mullanpur has offered mixed results. The average score here is 173. While the first few matches saw scores above 200, recent games have produced totals as low as 111 and 95. In their last meeting at this venue, RCB restricted PBKS to 157 and chased it down comfortably.
The weather is expected to be warm and dry. Temperatures will hover around 30 degrees Celsius. There is no forecast for rain.
Match Broadcast Details:
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025
Toss Time: 7:00 PM IST
Match Start Time: 7:30 PM IST
TV Broadcast: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar app and website
