Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
In the second match of first double-header Saturday (April 5) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) are hosting the inaugural title winners Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh. Both teams are coming off similar results from their previous matches as the Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS are unbeaten in the tournament so far, Royals are coming after a win over five-time champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
As the two skippers took the field for the toss, it was the PBKS skipper, Shreyas Iyer who came out on top. The middle-order batter elected to bowl first after winning the toss, thus inviting the visitors to put the score first on the board. “ We'll bowl first. Looking at the last game, we were playing on a new wicket and we want to see how the pitch plays. Same mindset here as well. We need to stabilise the rhythm from game one and that's happened,” he said.
Tushar Deshpande misses out due to a niggle; Yudhvir Singh Charak replaces him in RR XI
While the Punjab-based franchise opted to make slight changes in their XI with Priyansh Arya being named in the impact substitute list, Sanju Samson-led RR saw a forced change as Tushar Deshpande sits out due to a niggle. At the toss, Samson confirmed a niggle to Deshpande, which makes way for Yudhvir Singh Charak.
“We have a small niggle for Tushar Deshpande, so he's out for today and Yudhvir comes in for him,” the wicketkeeper-batter said at the toss time.
PBKS vs RR IPL 2025 Playing XI
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Subs: Priyansh Arya, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sandeep Sharma
Impact Subs: Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal
