PBKS vs RCB, IPL 2025 Qualifier 1: Toss result and playing 11s for today’s match, umpires list and pitch report
Punjab Kings (PBKS) are taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Both PBKS and RCB finished with 19 points each after the league stage to confirm their top two berths. The winner of Qualifier 1 will directly progress to the final, while the loser will get a chance to play Qualifier 2.
PBKS' charge in IPL 2025 has been led by their top order batters. Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh and skipper Shreyas Iyer have been fantastic, while Josh Inglis also came to the party after being promoted to No. 3 in the team's previous match against Mumbai Indians (MI). Punjab's bowling has also been impressive, led by Arshdeep Singh. It remains to be what impact Marco Jansen's absence makes.
For RCB, Virat Kohli has been spectacular with another 600-plus season. Bengaluru will be hoping that he can carry on the great form. Jitesh Sharma was exceptional in the chase against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), while Mayank Agarwal also played a good knock. Bengaluru have some issues in the bowling department, which Punjab will look to exploit.
Today's PBKS vs RCB toss result
RCB have won the toss and have opted to bowl first. Rajat Patidar said:
“Wicket looks very hard, decent covering of grass and will try to maximize the first few overs.”
Bengaluru have made one change to their team - Josh Hazlewood is back in place of Nuwan Thushara. For Punjab, Azmatullah Omarzai replaces Marco Jansen.
PBKS vs RCB - Today's match playing XIs
Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (w), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson
PBKS Impact Subs: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlet
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
RCB Impact Subs: Mayank Agarwal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh.
Today's PBKS vs RCB pitch report
“This pitch was used twice before this season. In the night game, 200-plus was scored, while 150-plus was scored in the day game. The surface has got a lot of grass, so it will help the batters as the ball will come on to the bat nicely. The length where spinners might pitch the ball, there's very less grass on that area. There's a bit of moisture in the air, so there might be little bit of dew.” - Deep Dasgupta
Today's PBKS vs RCB match players list
Punjab Kings squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett, Praveen Dubey, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash
Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad: Phi Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara, Suyash Sharma, Blessing Muzarabani, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Tim David, Abhinandan Singh, Tim Seifert, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage
PBKS vs RCB - Today's match umpires
On-field umpires: Michael Gough, Virender Sharma
TV umpire: Rohan Pandit
Match Referee: Narayanan Kutty