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RCB vs PBKS, IPL 2025 Final: Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer opts to bowl, both teams unchanged
Punjab Kings have opted to field in the final of the 2025 Indian Premier League against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, 3 June. PTI
Punjab Kings won the toss, and skipper Shreyas Iyer opted to field in the final of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. Neither RCB nor PBKS have ever won the world's biggest T20 league in the past, meaning the IPL is set to crown a first-time champion regardless of the result on Tuesday evening.
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Both RCB and PBKS named unchanged XIs for the final, sticking to the combination that helped them win Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2 respectively. Which means Bengaluru's Tim David and Punjab's Harpreet Brar miss out after being expected to feature in the XI.
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PBKS and RCB had finished among the top-two teams at the end of the group stage, earning two shots at reaching the final in the process. Bengaluru stormed into the final after thrashing Punjab in Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur, bundling the home team out for just 101 and chasing the target down with 8 wickets and half of their overs to spare.
PBKS, however, bounced back from the defeat just two days later, with captain Shreyas Iyer smashing a magnificent 87 not out to steer his team to a five-wicket victory in their chase of 204 against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad.
PBKS' only appearance in an IPL final was in Bengaluru in 2014, in which the George Bailey-led side lost to Gautam Gambhir's Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. RCB, on the other hand, have finished runners-up thrice, each time with a different captain – Anil Kumble in 2009, Daniel Vettori in 2011 and Virat Kohli in 2016.
IPL 2025 Final, RCB and PBKS playing XIs
RCB: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood; Impact Subs: Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Suyash Sharma.
PBKS: Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal; Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlet, Harpreet Brar.
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