Kolkata : Fire vs Ice, battle of maiden trophy after 18 years struggle, the stage is set for epic battle between Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings and Rajat Patidar’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Both the team made captaincy changes ahead of the season, both didn’t win an IPL trophy for 18 years, since IPL’s commencement, and there’s chance to break the shackles. In short, season 18 final couldn’t have been better other than 2 teams of holy trinity facing each other.
On one hand is calm, composed Rajat Patidar, captaining for first time in IPL, guided RCB to final, for first time since 2016. Virat Kohli, the modern day great has big chance to complete Cricket after years of penance.
On other hand, the fiery captain Shreyas Iyer, made an unique record of guiding 3 different teams (DC, KKR, PBKS) to IPL finals. Last year he captained KKR to their 3rd IPL trophy after 10 years, and would like to do same for PBKS, in collaboration with Aussie former legend and PBKS coach Ricky Ponting.
Match –
IPL 2025 Final – RCB vs PBKS
Venue –
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Time and Date-
7:30 PM IST, June 3, 2025
Pitch conditions ; What to expect?
The match will be played on centre wicket of Narendra Modi Stadium to ensure equal dimensions. This Pitch was previously used during match of GT vs PBKS (March 25) and pilled up 470 runs. Therefore, heavy run fest is expected.
Head to Head –
Total Matches – 36
RCB won – 18
PBKS won – 18
In last encounter, RCB crushed PBKS by 8 wickets in Qualifier 1, bundling them for 101 and then chasing down the total in 10 overs to qualify for IPL 2025 final. PBKS however, came back well defeating MI in Qualifier 2 and marching into final.
Road to Final –
Punjab Kings :
PBKS qualified into final after 11 years with one of the greatest seasons and topping the points table with 9 wins out of 14 matches.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru :
RCB on other hand, too finished 2nd with 9 wins in 14 matches.
Tactics and Match ups –
-Shreyas Iyer has been dismissed by Josh Hazlewood 4 times in 6 IPL innings. However, he has good success at Narendra Modi Stadium this season (97* & 87* in 2 innings).
-Rajat Patidar started off well with 161 runs in first 4 games but dipped to 125 runs in next 9 innings.
-Virat Kohli has an average of 36 (1116 runs in 35 matches) against PBKS but his recent form picked up as in last 8 innings he averages 62.5 against PBKS.
-Josh Hazlewood, a clutch player of playoffs has whopping record of 12 wickets in 5 playoff matches.
Captain’s Corner –
Shreyas Iyer (On RCB Bowling) : “We’re on different wicket right now & definitely they (RCB) have been very well throughout. It’s important to adapt as quickly as possible & see to it that you’re up for the challenge & take the bulls by the horns”.
Rajat Patidar (On his captaincy) : “I’ve always tried to create a good environment for every player, who has come from a domestic background or international experience…. they both feel same”.
Injury/Availability updates –
RCB – Tim David will be unavailable.
PBKS – No major concerns, Yuzvendra Chahal’s starting in doubtful.
Probable Playing 12 :
RCB :
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma (Impact)
PBKS :
Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Vijay Kumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar / Yuzvendra Chahal.
