Shubman Gill won the toss and decided to bowl first in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) first home game of the season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. This marks Gujarat Titans’ (GT) first away match of the season, following a win against Mumbai Indians and a loss to Punjab Kings.
GT made one change to their lineup, bringing in left-arm pacer Arshad Khan in place of Kagiso Rabada, who is unavailable due to personal reasons. With this change, GT will have only two overseas players in their bowling attack, while Sherfane Rutherford is expected to be slotted in the batting lineup.
“It looks like a good wicket. The conditions don’t change much, so we are looking to bowl first,” Gill said at the toss. “We are all about reducing our unforced errors, and we will try and fine-tune the areas that need some fine-tuning.”
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar revealed that he, too, would have opted to bowl first. However, he expressed confidence in his unchanged playing XI. “We wanted to bowl first as well,” he said. “The surface is pretty hard, [and] will not change much. We will try and keep them under pressure. The way everybody is chipping in gives me confidence. Everyone is looking in a good frame of mind.”
RCB’s Strong Start to IPL 2025
RCB has had an excellent start to their IPL 2025 campaign. They began with a dominant seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the season opener. Their next match saw them create history by securing a massive 50-run win against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk, a feat they last achieved in 2008. These performances have propelled them to the top of the points table with an impressive NRR of +2.266.
Meanwhile, GT’s season started on a disappointing note, losing their first match by 11 runs to Punjab Kings. However, they bounced back strongly by defeating Mumbai Indians by 36 runs at home.
Team Lineups
Gujarat Titans: 1. Shubman Gill (capt), 2. Sai Sudharsan, 3. Jos Buttler (wk), 4. Shahrukh Khan, 5. Rahul Tewatia, 6. Arshad Khan, 7. Rashid Khan, 8. R Sai Kishore, 9. Mohammed Siraj, 10. Prasidh Krishna, 11. Ishant Sharma.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1. Phil Salt, 2. Virat Kohli, 3. Devdutt Padikkal, 4. Rajat Patidar (capt), 5. Liam Livingstone, 6. Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7. Tim David, 8. Krunal Pandya, 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Josh Hazlewood, 11. Yash Dayal.
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