Table Toppers Punjab Kings Face Royal Challengers Bengaluru In 1st Qualifier Of IPL 2025

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Last Updated:May 28, 2025, 17:55 IST

One tin expect some teams to person a nary holds barred attack knowing they volition get different changeable astatine reaching the last adjacent if they travel up abbreviated connected Thursday.

PBKS to look RCB successful archetypal qualifier of IPL 2025. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)

Shreyas Iyer’s inspiring enactment volition look its toughest trial yet erstwhile Punjab Kings big an arsenic upbeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru successful Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League successful New Chandigarh connected Thursday.

Having earned the cushion of a top-two finish, 1 tin expect some teams to person a nary holds barred attack knowing they volition get different changeable astatine reaching the last adjacent if they travel up abbreviated connected the opening nighttime of the play-offs.

Punjab Kings find themselves successful unfamiliar territory having made the play-offs for the archetypal clip since 2014 but they are not carrying the baggage of the past successful the Iyer-Ricky Ponting (head coach) era.

RCB, connected the different hand, are mode excessively acquainted with heartbreaks of the knock-out stages and similar each season, are hoping to extremity their rubric drought. In their ain words, the occupation is lone fractional done for some rubric contenders.

The Iyer-Ponting concern has resulted successful a stellar turnaround for Punjab Kings, who person yet cracked the consistency codification aft much than a decennary of under-performance.

The operation has managed to get the champion retired of the players making them a well-oiled unit.

The opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and rookie Priyansh Arya has laid the level for the likes of Iyer and Josh Inglis to build.

Finisher Shashank Singh continues to amended his crippled with each passing play and much recently, Australian import Marcus Stoinis uncovering his scope with the bat makes the batting look much formidable.

The concerns prevarication successful the bowling department, particularly aft the departure of South African Marco Jansen, who has returned location for nationalist duty.

Jansen bowled the important overs some successful the powerplay and decease and the squad volition surely miss him connected Thursday night.

Kyle Jamieson showed committedness successful his debut for the franchise but volition request to vessel amended upfront to marque an impact. Batting all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai could instrumentality Jansen’s spot.

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who missed the past 2 games owed to a digit injury, is expected to instrumentality for the large crippled and vessel alongside the ever close Harpreet Brar.

Arshdeep Singh has been the standout pacer for his longtime franchise, delivering successful each phases of the game.

RCB excessively had wounded concerns going into the concern extremity of the tourney but they person been allayed to a bully extent.

Pacer Josh Hazlewood is expected to regain afloat fittingness and Tim David excessively would beryllium disposable for selection, lending much equilibrium to the side.

RCB person been branded arsenic a apical dense outfit for years but that appears to beryllium changing with the likes of Jitesh Sharma realising their imaginable successful the middle-order. Jitesh played the champion innings of his IPL vocation connected Tuesday nighttime and his assurance volition beryllium entity precocious going into the play-offs.

It would beryllium important from the team’s constituent of presumption that Phil Salt is astatine his destructive champion successful the powerplay and Virat Kohli keeps batting similar helium has been done the season, racking up fifties with ridiculous ease.

RCB volition instrumentality positives retired of their triumph implicit Punjab Kings astatine this venue successful the league stage. The transportation has been alternatively unpredictable with 200 scored lone erstwhile successful the archetypal innings of the 4 games played here.

But Punjab Kings volition person the content of winning from the brink astatine their location crushed having defended 111 against KKR past month.

The stakes volition beryllium precocious but some teams volition dainty the crippled arsenic a stepping chromatic to their eventual goal.

Squads

Punjab Kings: Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Praveen Dubey, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai, Aaron Hardie, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Mitchell Owen, Kyle Jamieson.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Swastik Chikara, Jitesh Sharma, Philip Salt, Manoj Bhandage, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh, Mayank Agarawal, Blessing Muzarabani, Tim Seifert.

Location :

Chandigarh, India, India

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News cricket Table Toppers Punjab Kings Face Royal Challengers Bengaluru In 1st Qualifier Of IPL 2025