Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be keen to exact revenge on PBKS after suffering a 5-wicket defeat at home. The rain-hit tie at the M Chinnaswamy stadium saw Shreyas Iyer & co. successfully chase down the 96-run target with nearly two overs to spare. RCB are once again up against the same PBKS, this time in Mullanpur.
RCB predicted XI vs PBKS
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | Phil Salt | Batter |
| 2. | Virat Kohli | Batter |
| 3. | Devdutt Padikkal | Batter |
| 4. | Rajat Patidar (C) | Batter |
| 5. | Jacob Bethell | All-rounder |
| 6. | Tim David | All-rounder |
| 7. | Jitesh Sharma (WK) | Batter |
| 8. | Krunal Pandya | All-rounder |
| 9. | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Bowler |
| 10. | Yash Dayal | Bowler |
| 11. | Josh Hazlewood | Bowler |
Batters need to step up
As Josh Hazlewood pointed out after the defeat to PBKS in Bengaluru, RCB’s concerns are not regarding their bowling. But it is the intent shown by the batters, especially in the powerplay. The top six batters need to consistently go all guns blazing, right from the word go.
The likes of Salt, Kohli and Patidar have the ability to accelerate at will and must put it to good use to counter PBKS bowlers. RCB could also be looking to drop Liam Livingstone and play Jacob Bethell instead.
Livingstone has been highly inconsistent with the bat in the last four games, managing to register only single-digit scores. Instead, the team can opt for his England teammate who has been benched so far.
Tim David will be expected to continue acing his role as the finisher along with Jitesh Sharma.
With the ball Krunal Pandya will play a crucial role for RCB, especially in dealing with the Shreyas Iyer menace. He will be backed by Bethell and Suyash Sharma.
RCB squad for IPL 2025
Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh
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