Ahmedabad: After 70 league games and three knockout matches, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is set to get its new winner as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have weathered all storms to set up a title clash at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday.
In a battle of titans, the Rajat Patidar-led RCB will hold an advantage over their opponents as they thrashed them by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur in New Chandigarh to seal the direct entry to the final. However, Punjab had their way of bouncing back from the setback against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2, courtesy of Shreyas Iyer’s blistering 87 not out to keep their dream of winning a maiden title alive.
On paper, both teams are equally poised in batting and bowling. Punjab boasts a top-heavy batting line-up with the likes of uncapped duo Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh supported by experienced campaigners Josh Inglis, Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis. On the other hand, RCB banked on the seasoned opening pair of Virat Kohli and Phil Salt, backed by a strong line-up of batters including captain Rajat Patidar, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, and Krunal Pandya.
In the bowling department, Josh Hazlewood has been spearheading with 21 scalps along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal, while Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya are leading their spin bowling.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson will shoulder the pace-bowling responsibility with Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Vijaykumar Vyshak supporting them. Yuzvendra Chahal and Harpreet Brar will lead their spin-bowling department.
Interestingly, both RCB and PBKS suffered a batting collapse in the season against each other. First, it was RCB who faltered against Punjab in a league stage clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, while in Qualifier 1, it was the home side that had a disastrous batting performance in New Chandigarh.
As the tournament reaches its culmination, one can hope for a pulsating encounter between the two best sides of the 2025 season.
It has been a long wait for both sides to reach the final of the cash-rich league. Punjab last appeared in the summit clash in 2014, while RCB featured in the title clash in 2016, before losing to their neighbours, Sunrisers Hyderabad. This is also the first time since 2022 that the tournament will have a new winner. IANS
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