Welcome to RCB vs PBKS live coverage! After 33 exciting matches, it’s time for match number 34th of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League, which will be played between two of the top performers of the IPL 2025, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The teams are coming off victories in their last games and promise an exciting match, given their form.
Bharath: Over the past few days, its been raining for 2 to 3 hours in the night here. So, expect the match to happen but with reduced overs
slight drizzle, but signs of hope*
Kaushik shares a positive update: groundstaff in raincoats are waiting near the boundary as only a light drizzle falls. Even better—umpires have now stepped out, joined by a few groundstaff.
The toss was scheduled by now, but steady rain continues to delay proceedings. Fortunately, there’s still ample buffer time before any overs are lost.
Toss delayed due to rain
Josh Hazlewood
Three of our quick bowlers, they are a little bit different. No matter who takes the new ball, we have got a role to play. They are great swing bowlers upfront. They are wicket-takers and I try to do my thing. Powerplay has been the best part for us with the ball so far. It’s going to interesting, it’s raining at the moment. I know the outfield dries quickly here, so as soon as the rain stops, we can get on the field quickly. In a couple of games here, it’s been a great learning curve for us. Some guys have played a lot of cricket here, some haven’t played as much. We are always learning on the go. Got to hit the good length, hit the top of stump. Need to go full and swing the ball in the powerplay.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injury & Availability: No injury/availability concerns to report
Tactics & Matchups: Maxwell has had a troubled start to the season but a game against a former team in familiar climes may have come at the right time as he strives to rediscover his mojo. That said, he will come up against Krunal Pandya, a bowler who had dismissed him five times in the IPL. Krunal in fact has also managed to keep Shreyas Iyer (88.89 SR) and Marcus Stoinis (110.71 SR) quiet previously.
Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
Punjab Kings
Injury & Availability: Lockie Ferguson is unlikely to play a part in the remainder of IPL 2025 after picking up a suspected hip injury in the SRH game.
Tactics & Matchups: Yuzvendra Chahal isn’t just the IPL’s leading wicket-taker; he’s Chinnaswamy’s old puppet master, and on evidence of the KKR game, the strings are still in his hands. No bowler has more T20 wickets at this venue. Sixteen of his 24 IPL scalps since 2024 have been right-handers. With RCB stacking six of them in their top eight and with some promise of grip from the surface, Chahal won’t need a second invitation to spin a web.
Probable XII: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis (wk)/Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak/Yash Thakur
ALSO READ: IPL 2025: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings: Head To Head
