Both teams are on a quest to end their 17-year-long title drought.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are all set to take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 tonight. This thrilling clash sets the stage for round two, following a heated moment in the league stage when a post-win celebration by Virat Kohli annoyed PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer during their match in Mullanpur. Both teams are on a quest to end their 17-year-long title drought.
RCB secured second place in the IPL 2025 points table in the last league-stage fixture of the tournament. They chased a mammoth 227-run target against the Lucknow Super Giants to avoid playing in the eliminator.
On the other hand, PBKS confirmed their place in the Qualifier 1 with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over the fourth-placed Mumbai Indians.
Both teams have been heavily dependent on the performances of two of their star batters in this IPL 2025. Let’s take a look at the comparison between former RCB captain Kohli and the newly appointed PBKS skipper Shreyas.
The former RCB captain, Kohli, is in sublime touch in this IPL 2025. The 36-year-old is one of the very few players who have played all 18 seasons of this cash-rich league so far. He has scored 602 runs in 13 league-stage matches at a strike rate of 147.91. Kohli also notched up eight fifty-plus scores this season and completed 8,606 runs in the IPL.
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Shreyas is also continuing his purple patch in this IPL 2025. Following the title-winning skipper’s release from the defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) squad, PBKS acquired him in the player auction for a huge amount of INR 26.75 crore and handed him the leadership. However, Shreyas has also reflected the investment in this edition perfectly so far.
He has piled up 514 runs in 14 matches, including five half-centuries. Shreyas became only the third captain to take Punjab into the knockouts after former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh (2008) and former Australian batter George Bailey (2014). He is also the first captain in history to qualify three different teams for the IPL playoffs (Delhi Capitals, KKR, and PBKS).
These two teams first clashed against each other in RCB’s home fixture at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 18. Rajat Patidar and Co. had lost two consecutive home matches but won four of their away games during that time.
It was no different for RCB in their third home fixture as well. The game was reduced to 14 overs per side due to the rain-delayed start, and they could manage to post only 95/9. PBKS pacer Arshdeep Singh dismissed Kohli for just one run off three deliveries by an across-angled length ball. Apart from skipper Patidar’s 18-ball-23 and a brilliant rescue act from Australian Tim David (50 runs off 26 balls at a blistering strike rate of 192.31), all other batters returned for single-digit scores.
Southpaw Nehal Wadhera’s 33 runs off 19 balls helped Punjab chase that low total easily under 13 overs. However, PBKS skipper Shreyas made a cheap 10-ball-seven before returning to the pavilion by a Josh Hazlewood delivery.
These two teams locked horns once again in Punjab’s home fixture in Mullanpur on April 20. PBKS posted 157/6 on the scoreboard, but their skipper fell for just six runs off 10 balls. However, a 73-run knock from Kohli off 54 balls took RCB over the line under 19 overs and levelled the league stage 1-1.
These two teams will clash once again tonight in Mullanpur to secure a place in the IPL 2025 final.
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