Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face Punjab Kings in Match 37 of IPL 2025 on Sunday. The two teams just met on Friday. Punjab won that match by five wickets in a rain-affected game.
RCB Look Stronger Away From Home
RCB will play away from home this time. That’s a good sign for them. They have lost every home game but remain unbeaten in away matches. They might bring back Devdutt Padikkal. He sat out the last 14-over match. Other batters moved up the order, which didn’t work well.
After the loss, captain Rajat Patidar said, “Initially it was sticking and two paced, but we could have done far better as a batting unit. Partnerships are important, we have lost wickets in quick intervals and that’s a big lesson for us.”
Punjab’s Batting Still Uncertain
Punjab managed to win the last game, but their top order looked shaky. Nehal Wadhera played a quick cameo that sealed the win. Jos Inglis has done well for Australia but hasn’t made an impact yet for Punjab.
Salt and Kohli Hold the Key for RCB
RCB, sitting fourth on the table, need a strong start from Philip Salt and Virat Kohli. Patidar, Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, and Tim David will handle the middle overs.
In bowling, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the attack. Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma, and Krunal Pandya must support them well.
After the third home loss, Hazlewood stayed hopeful. He said, “Quite unreal schedule in the last few days, well, we’re playing again tomorrow. Yeah it’s something different and I think the way we went about it (defending the total) on the field was a positive, to take wickets and put them under a little pressure and we can take that momentum to the next game.”
PBKS Shine Under Iyer’s Captaincy
Punjab Kings have looked confident this season. They sit second in the points table with five wins from seven games. Delhi Capitals are just ahead of them.
Punjab’s bowlers have performed brilliantly. Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, and Marco Jansen have impressed with pace. Yuzvendra Chahal has made a strong comeback as a leg-spinner. He takes key wickets in the middle overs.
Captain Shreyas Iyer praised Chahal. “Personally I had a chat with Chahal. I told him you are a match winner and you need to get us wickets as much as possible. You don’t need to be safe in your approach and he has got the capability of bouncing back. That’s what we appreciate of him as a leggie.”
Young Batters Give Punjab a Boost
Opener Priyansh Arya, who already scored a century, will open with Prabhsimran Singh. The middle order includes Iyer, Inglis, Wadhera, Shashank Singh, and Marcus Stoinis. They add both strength and depth.
Head-to-Head Battle Favors Punjab
After the recent win, Punjab now lead the head-to-head count 18–16 against Bengaluru.
Hot Conditions Expected in Mullanpur
Sunday’s match in Mullanpur will be very hot. There’s no forecast for rain. The pitch favors batters. A winning total may need to go over 200 runs.
Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash.
