PBKS and RCB Face Off in Pursuit of First Title


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Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025, set to take place in Mullanpur, brings together two teams with a shared history of near misses—Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Both franchises are still searching for their elusive first IPL title, adding extra weight to this knockout clash.

For PBKS, this marks their first playoff appearance since 2014, a season in which they dominated the league stage only to lose the final to Kolkata Knight Riders. RCB, although more consistent in reaching the playoffs, last finished in the top two in 2016—a campaign that ended with a final defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad.



PBKS have leaned on the strength of their uncapped Indian talent this season, while RCB—long known for their star-studded line-ups—have taken a more balanced approach. This year, they’ve entrusted leadership to Rajat Patidar, who has just four international caps, with Jitesh Sharma, who has nine, as his deputy.

Team News and Likely XIIs

In their previous outing, PBKS fielded both Marco Jansen and Kyle Jamieson, opting for a fifth frontline bowler while preserving depth in the batting order. However, with Jansen unavailable for this match, the team may need to recall Azmatullah Omarzai to maintain the balance. Alternatively, they could bring in either Xavier Bartlett or Vijaykumar Vyshak, though that would come at the cost of batting strength.

Punjab Kings (probable):

  1. Priyansh Arya

  2. Prabhsimran Singh

  3. Josh Inglis (wk)

  4. Shreyas Iyer (capt)

  5. Nehal Wadhera

  6. Shashank Singh

  7. Marcus Stoinis

  8. Azmatullah Omarzai

  9. Kyle Jamieson

  10. Harpreet Brar

  11. Arshdeep Singh

  12. Yuzvendra Chahal

As for RCB, Nuwan Thushara was the standout performer with the ball in their last match against Lucknow Super Giants. However, he may have to make way for Josh Hazlewood in this crunch encounter. If RCB decide to play both, it would require reshuffling their overseas players—a move the team management might hesitate to make at this stage of the tournament.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (probable):

  1. Virat Kohli

  2. Phil Salt

  3. Mayank Agarwal

  4. Rajat Patidar (capt)

  5. Jitesh Sharma (wk)

  6. Krunal Pandya

  7. Liam Livingstone

  8. Romario Shepherd

  9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

  10. Yash Dayal

  11. Josh Hazlewood

  12. Suyash Sharma

As both sides aim to book a spot in the IPL 2025 final, this match could well be a defining chapter in their quest for a long-awaited title.