The winner of Qualifier 2 will face RCB in the IPL 2025 final.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 has reached its business end. Only two matches are remaining and three teams are in contention to clinch the IPL 2025 trophy. There are two sides, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS), which are looking to end their 17-year-long trophy drought this season. The five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are also in the hunt to win the championship for a record sixth time.
RCB have already sealed a spot in the IPL 2025 final after defeating PBKS in Qualifier 1. On the other hand, the IPL 2022 champions, Gujarat Titans (GT), have been eliminated from the race after suffering a 20-run loss against MI in Eliminator. Hardik Pandya’s MI will clash with Shreyas Iyer’s PBKS tonight to decide RCB’s opposition in the IPL 2025 summit clash.
Former India player Shikhar Dhawan has revealed that he will be rooting for Pandya and Co. to lift their sixth IPL trophy in this edition and surpass the Chennai Super Kings to become the most successful franchise in tournament history.
He has acknowledged their massive shift in momentum after losing four of their five initial league-stage matches. Since then, the team has continued their winning spree and is on a great course to snatch the IPL title again.
“This time, the IPL has been very exciting. For the finals, my support will be with Mumbai Indians. The Mumbai Indians team is playing really well. They are very balanced. The way they’ve gained momentum is outstanding, and they are a very strong and well-balanced team. So, I’m with Mumbai Indians,” he stated (via India Today).
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The 39-year-old has also backed youngster Shubman Gill for his selection as the new Test skipper of India, following the recent retirement of the former captain Rohit Sharma in the red-ball format. Dhawan felt that the 25-year-old is the perfect fit to lead the Indian team in Tests and believes him to do exceptionally well after receiving the captaincy.
“I feel it’s a great choice. Shubman has performed really well in the IPL recently. He is a great talent and has matured. He’s been playing for the Indian team for several years now. I feel he’s the perfect candidate to take on the Test captaincy and I’m sure he will handle it well and lead the team together. This is the new generation now, Gen Z, and I’m confident he’ll do a great job. All my best wishes to him,” added the former India opener.
However, Gill is set to join the India A team alongside his GT teammate Sai Sudharsan, ahead of their second four-day Test against the England Lions, starting on June 6. In the ongoing first Test, the England Lions are currently trailing by 320 runs. Earlier, India posted a mammoth 557-run total on the scoreboard with the help of an astonishing 204 from Karun Nair. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel also contributed with their 92 and 94-run knocks, respectively.
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