IPL 2025: RCB eye better batting effort in return clash against PBKS

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have very little time to pick up the pieces after a debilitating loss as they eye a much-improved display from their batting unit in a return Indian Premier League match against in-form Punjab Kings here on Sunday.

With the exception of Tim David, the RCB batters had a night to forget as they slipped to 95 for nine against PBKS in Bengaluru on Friday, losing the match by five wickets.

In a rain-curtailed 14-over-a-side match, the RCB batters cut a sorry figure with the likes of Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, skipper Rajat Patidar, and Liam Livingstone failing miserably in front of their home crowd.

Patidar acknowledged the batters’ failure at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“Initially it was sticking and two paced, but we could have done far better as a batting unit. Partnerships are important, we have lost wickets in quick intervals and that’s a big lesson for us," Patidar had said after the loss against Punjab Kings.

Come Sunday, and RCB, who are placed fourth in the points table, would bank on Salt and Kohli to provide an explosive start and the onus would be on Patidar, Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya and David to lend stability in the middle-order.

On the bowling front, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be spearheading the attack but they will need a lot more support from people like Yash Dayal, Krunal and Suyash Sharma.

Despite their third loss at home, Hazlewood sought to look at the positives.

“Quite unreal schedule in the last few days, well, we’re playing again tomorrow. Yeah it’s something different and I think the way we went about it (defending the total) on the field was a positive, to take wickets and put them under a little pressure and we can take that momentum to the next game," he said.

PBKS, on the other hand, are going great guns under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership and are currently placed second in the standings with five wins in seven games behind table toppers Delhi Capitals.

What has stood out for PBKS this season is their bowling department.

Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett and Marco Jansen have been brilliant on the pace front, while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has reignited himself, taking crucial wickets in the middle overs.

Chahal’s attacking bowling has reaped rich dividends for PBKS, something which the team’s skipper Iyer acknowledged.

“Personally I had a chat with Chahal. I told him you are a match winner and you need to get us wickets as much as possible. You don’t need to be safe in your approach and he has got the capability of bouncing back. That’s what we appreciate of him as a leggie," Iyer said.

As far as their batting is concerned, young Priyansh Arya, who had already hit a ton, and Prabhsimran Singh are expected to give a good start to PBKS innings.

In Iyer, Josh Inglis, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis, PBKS boast of strong middle-order.

Sports