RCB eye crucial win at Chinnaswamy against Punjab Kings

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru returned to winning ways after successfully toppling Rajasthan Royals in their last game. Stationed in the third position with four wins from six games, RCB have posted a solid display so far. They will be hopeful of keeping their winning run alive, especially as they gear up for another home clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The emotions in the RCB camp will be running wild as they are still to register a win at home. So far from the two games that they have played in Chinnaswamy, they have lost both of them, first against the Gujarat Titans and then against Delhi Capitals. After the last game against RR, Phil Salt said that the preparations are in place and they would be doing their best to try and make the most of their home advantage.

Punjab Kings will be brimming with confidence as they carved the record of defending the lowest total in IPL 2025 so far in their last game against KKR. The resurgence of Yuzvendra Chahal will be key in shaping their run against RCB while their collective stand in the face of KKR will be another important factor in terms of defining their current momentum.

Venue Watch

The last game at Chinnaswamy came as a surprise for the batters. The two-paced wicket in Bengaluru left the batters scrambling. However, it is highly unlikely that the track will continue to assist the bowlers. One might expect that the batting charm that Bengaluru is known for, will be back and that will offer both the teams to come out dashing for a big total.

Personal battles to watch out for:

Virat Kohli vs Yuzvendra Chahal:

Virat Kohli rocked another crucial half-century in the match against Rajasthan Royals. He knitted together a very special partnership with Phil Salt up front while winning the game alongside Devdutt Padikkal. He will be hopeful of driving forth with intensity to try and set the platform for a grandstand finish. Chahal looked off colour in the tournament until the last game when he racked up a four-fer against KKR in a low-scoring thriller. The two have played alongside each other for a long time and that will only make this contest a fun watch.

Rajat Patidar vs Marco Jansen

Rajat Patidar has so far been in steady nick and will be eyeing for another special innings. He has definitely looked in great touch until now. His strokeplay laced with control against spinners make him a fine option to lead the charge at home for RCB. Marco Jansen, on the contrary, was instrumental in setting up a fine win for PBKS in the last game with a three-fer up front. Rattling through the spine of the KKR batting unit, he will be hoping to recreate the entire saga when he goes up against Patidar, especially with the quicker one angling away from Patidar.

Josh Hazlewood vs Shreyas Iyer

Hoff has this knack of getting the special player of the opposition, time and time again. Even in the last game when Yashasvi Jaiswal threatened to run away with the game, Hazlewood darted in full steam to get the better of the southpaw. With the new ball, he has looked in excellent form and will be setting up a brilliant contest against Shreyas Iyer. Iyer might have fallen for a duck in the last game but the quality of the Punjab captain is very special and that is what PBKS will be hopeful of building their head of steam around.

Match detail:

Match: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings

Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Date: 18th April, 2025

Time: 7:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 33

RCB: 16

PBKS: 17

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru:

Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Swastik Chikara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Philip Salt, Manoj Bhandage, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh.

Punjab Kings:

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), 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.