In a high-stakes IPL 2025 showdown, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and chose to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 65 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, on Friday. The match was originally scheduled for RCB’s home turf at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, but was relocated due to a yellow alert warning for heavy rainfall in Bengaluru.
Jitesh Sharma, making his captaincy debut for RCB, took charge of the crucial encounter with the playoffs on the horizon. “It’s my first time leading RCB, though I did captain PBKS against SRH last year. Given the change in venue and unfamiliar pitch conditions, we felt bowling first would be the smarter option,” Jitesh said at the toss.
RCB have a golden opportunity to climb to the top of the points table with a win, especially after Gujarat Titans suffered a defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants by 33 runs on Thursday.
The Bengaluru franchise made a couple of key changes: Mayank Agarwal returned to the playing XI, replacing Devdutt Padikkal, while Rajat Patidar, still nursing a finger injury, was named the impact substitute.
Jitesh emphasized RCB’s focus and camaraderie heading into the business end of the tournament. “The management has been supportive. The dressing room is united and determined—we want to win every game and bring the cup home,” he added.
On the other side, SRH, who entered this season as runners-up, are now out of playoff contention but are looking to finish strong. Captain Pat Cummins confirmed three changes, bringing in Travis Head, Abhinav Manohar, and Jaydev Unadkat to freshen the XI.
“We’ve seen glimpses of what we’re capable of in the last few games. We’re focused on building a solid core for next season. Conditions are a bit unpredictable here, so we would’ve bowled first too,” Cummins remarked. He also mentioned the successful chase of 200 in their previous outing as a positive takeaway.
Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Jitesh Sharma (wk/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Suyash Sharma
Impact Subs: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
Impact Subs: Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh
