RCB Playing 11 vs Punjab Kings- IPL 2025, Qualifier 1
Published - 29 May 2025, 07:09 PM | Updated - 29 May 2025, 07:15 PM
Punjab Kings (PBKS) are all set to take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025. This article provides details about RCB Playing 11 vs Punjab Kings for Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025.
RCB Playing 11 vs Punjab Kings- IPL 2025, Qualifier 1:
Openers: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will go into the match against PBKS with the opening combination of Philip Salt and Virat Kohli, both of whom are in good form in the ongoing tournament.
Philip Salt helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru get off to a quick start in the last match against LSG and took on the opposition bowlers to set the platform for the incoming batters in pursuit of a huge total of 228 runs.
Salt was matched shot to shot by Virat Kohli, who scored yet another half-century and kept the tempo up while forming small but crucial partnerships with other batters.
The duo will look to keep up the good work they have done in the last couple of games at the top of the order.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (c), Romario Shepherd, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya
The openers will be followed by Mayank Agarwal, who stayed right till the end and stitched a decisive partnership with stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma to guide RCB to a memorable win.
Rajat Patidar, who has been playing as an impact substitute since the last two matches, will hope to recover in time for the important game against PBKS as RCB will need his services as the captain of the side.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru would be elated by the way the team's middle order handled pressure after losing back-to-back wickets in the middle overs, with the Indian core led by Jitesh Sharma bailing them out.
RCB have won all their away games this season, something which is rarely achieved by teams in the IPL, and it has been a complete team effort in most of those games.
Royal Challengers would hope for hard-hitting batter Tim David to attain full fitness before the first qualifier, as the Australian batter is an important part of the team's middle order.
Having said that, Royal Challengers Bengaluru would take the field against PBKS with a lot of confidence, especially in the batting department.
The match scheduled to be played on Thursday is predicted to be a battle between the in-form batting lineups of both teams.
Bowlers: Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been desperately waiting for the Australian fast bowler and the leader of their pace attack, Josh Hazlewood, to be fit, taking into account the performance of the bowlers in the last two games.
Hazlewood's absence has come to haunt RCB massively in the last two encounters as the bowlers have not been able to stem the flow of runs on a batting-friendly wicket in Lucknow.
The bowlers would wish to get some sort of assistance from the wicket in Mullanpur, a ground which is known to produce high-scoring matches.
As far as RCB's spin department is concerned, it will be taken care of by Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru would be concerned about the form of Suyash Sharma, who has looked off-color in the last few games and has leaked runs in the middle overs.
Krunal, on the other hand, has gone about his business as usual and looked the most effective bowler against LSG, but wasn't able to bowl his full quota of four overs.
Also Read: PBKS vs RCB Match Prediction - Who Will Win Today's Qualifier 1 IPL 2025?
