Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 65th match of the Indian Premier League 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday. RCB, who have already booked their spot in the playoffs, sit second in the points table with 17 points from 12 matches. A win in this fixture will boost their chances of securing a top-two finish. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad are already out of the playoff race but are coming off a confidence-boosting win over Lucknow Super Giants. They will aim to end their campaign on a high.
In a notable change, Jitesh Sharma is leading RCB in place of regular skipper Rajat Patidar, who suffered a finger injury in the team’s last match against Chennai Super Kings. Jitesh confirmed at the toss that Patidar is listed among the Impact Player substitutes and will not start the match. This is Jitesh’s first time captaining RCB, though he previously led Punjab Kings in a match against SRH last season.
“We want to make use of the moisture on the pitch. The goal is to finish on top of the table and enter the playoffs strong. The management has created a good atmosphere,” Jitesh said during the toss.
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins said the team is building for the next season and is aiming for consistency. He confirmed three changes to the playing eleven, with Travis Head, Abhinav Manohar, and Jaydev Unadkat coming into the side.
“We would have bowled first as well. It’s a bit uncertain how the pitch will play. I have been training alongside Shami and preparing for upcoming Test cricket,” Cummins said.
Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Jitesh Sharma (captain and wicketkeeper), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Suyash Sharma.
Impact Player Substitutes: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (captain), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.
Impact Player Substitutes: Mohammad Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh.
