Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar hasn’t been named in the playing XI against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing IPL 2025. In his absence, Jitesh Sharma has been named as the leader. Notably, Rajat suffered an injury in his hand during the match against Chennai Super Kings earlier in the season and to keep him fresh ahead of the playoffs, the RCB management decided to play him as an Impact Substitute.
Speaking on leading the team for the first time, Jitesh stated that the goal is to finish the season on top of the points table. He informed of bowling first against SRH and mentioned the team atmosphere is great ahead of the playoffs.
“It's my first time captaining RCB. I captained PBKS against SRH last year. We are thinking to bowl first, want to take most of the surface from the moisture. We are looking forward to finish the league on top of the table and enter the playoffs. The management has taken care of the players. We have a good atmosphere and culture. We want to win every game and win the cup. Rajat Patidar is the impact player,” Jitesh said after the toss.
On the other hand, Mayank Agarwal returned to RCB’s playing XI for the first time in 12 years. The veteran batter was part of the squad from 2011 to 2013, before switching to Delhi Capitals. He eventually went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega-auction but after Devdutt Padikkal was ruled out of the tournament, RCB signed him for the remainder of the season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Jitesh Sharma (wk/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Suyash Sharma
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga