With just one appearance in the final, the Punjab Kings are the biggest underachievers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history. Although similar to Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have never won the IPL title, they have a better record, having finished runners-up three times.
The two teams with the dubious record will battle it on Thursday in the Qualifier 1 match of IPL 2025, hoping to clinch a direct berth in the final.
However, there is little to distinguish between these two teams. They both had finished on 19 points in the league phase, with PBKS taking the top spot based on a better net run rate.
But teams are evenly matched on head-to-head record. PBKS and RCB have faced off 35 times, with Punjab winning 18 and Bengaluru 17.
With the stakes very high, the two teams will meet at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur with PBKS enjoying home support as this is their home ground.
This is PBKS’ first appearance in the playoff since 2014, when they topped the league table but lost the final to Kolkata Knight Riders. Interestingly, RCB’s runner-up finish was in 2016 when they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. But this season, PBKS are a transformed lot riding on the heroics of uncapped Indian players like Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh and Harpreet Brar to top the league. Skipper Shreyas Iyer too has done well both with the bat and in the field.
RCB too transformed this season, moving away from their being a star-studded and top-heavy squad. Though Virat Kohli is still their top scorer, they are led by Rajat Patidar, with Jitesh Sharma as his deputy, both with limited international experience but strong IPL history.
Both sides have dealt with many things, like injury to key players, suspension of the league that broke their momentum and now the absence of key players in the final. PBKS will be without all-rounder Marco Jansen, who has returned to South Africa to prepare for the WTC Final, while RCB's Tim David is unlikely to feature after suffering a hamstring injury. They will have to pick the right replacement for their key players and hope they come good in the crunch clash.
PBSK batter Shashank Singh said they have manifested the team reaching this position.
It feels surreal and very satisfying. We manifested this as a team. This year we will win the title. Our first aim was to finish top two. So, we passed the first hurdle. We believed, we manifested, and we worked hard. The credit goes to the management. Every single individual, including the players and the management. We had 4-5 camps before the IPL and you can see the results, which is not easy in IPL.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Mo Bobat said they have achieved their first target and will take that experience in the playoffs.
We've achieved that goal we set ourselves initially, a top two finish. We said that a few weeks back, and we've done it. But it's important to remember that those achievements, and that particular achievement, are not what we came together for this year. We've probably got our most enjoyable, most exciting, most important week ahead, so that mindset is really important.
While RCB will be depending on their talismanic batter Virat Kohli, who has so far scored 602 runs, PBKS will have to counter him with their bowlers.
Probable playing XIs:
Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
