The high-altitude, picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Affiliation (HPCA) Stadium is all set to host a high-stakes rematch of final yr’s closing. Punjab Kings (PBKS) lock horns with the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in Match 61 of IPL 2026 on Sunday.
The stakes couldn’t be greater for both facet. Desk-toppers RCB enter the competition with 16 factors from 12 video games, needing only one solitary victory to formally safe their spot within the IPL 2026 playoffs. On the flip facet, Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings discover themselves on skinny ice. After an distinctive unbeaten run of their first six matches, PBKS have suffered a dramatic hunch, dropping 5 consecutive matches. For them, tonight is a definitive must-win affair to maintain their playoff ambitions respiration. Nevertheless, the most important speaking level forward of the primary ball was the sudden absence of RCB’s common skipper and middle-order linchpin, Rajat Patidar.
Why Rajat Patidar isn’t taking part in towards PBKS in right this moment’s match?
The defending champions suffered an enormous pre-match jolt when common captain Rajat Patidar was dominated out of the essential fixture because of a concussion harm. Patidar, who has been in blistering kind this season with 326 runs at a strike charge of 195, didn’t journey with the squad to Dharamsala and missed the group’s pre-match apply classes.
In his absence, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has stepped as much as captain the Bengaluru franchise. Talking on the toss, stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma make clear Patidar’s standing and the group’s mindset:
“We’d have beloved to bowl first, however the wicket is sweet and may play nicely for 40 overs. Rajat is doing incredible and we should always see him in Hyderabad. We’re on the enterprise finish of the match, and I’m proud of how the group is performing, each individually and as a unit. Sure, we’re more than happy that the group appears so steady proper now. We’re giving our very best in each division. One win tonight secures our spot within the playoffs, so it’s an enormous recreation for us. Each recreation is essential at this stage. This win can change your entire desk – not only for us, however for a number of different groups as nicely. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy.”
On the opposite facet of the coin, it’s a landmark night for Punjab Kings’ skipper Iyer, who’s strolling out for his a hundredth IPL match as captain. Profitable the toss and opting to area first, Iyer centered on staying grounded regardless of the event:
“We’re going to bowl. I’m not going by the stats, we’re clearly seeing how the video games pan out. If we bat and bowl nicely, the toss doesn’t matter. I critically had no clue that this was my a hundredth recreation as a captain but it surely feels nice. It appears like an amazing alternative for me to win my a hundredth recreation (as captain). The bowling has been incredible, however there are strain moments the place it’s good to execute and so you possibly can’t change the previous, nor you possibly can’t anticipate the long run. The wonder is to remain within the second and see the second and benefit from the strain. Two adjustments for us: (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson) are available in.”
To deal with the structural shift, RCB introduced in dynamic spinner Suyash Sharma to steadiness the bowling division whereas dynamic all-rounder Romario Shepherd replaces Jacob Duffy within the taking part in squad.
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Enjoying XI and Affect Substitutes of Each Groups
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Enjoying XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (wk/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma.
Affect Substitutes: Rasikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan.
Punjab Kings (Enjoying XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Affect Substitutes: Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey.
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