Australia international Tim David has been ruled out of the IPL 2025 final against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The flamboyant cricketer injured his hamstring in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad and has been out of action since. Liam Livingstone has been given the opportunity in his absence. Meanwhile, the RCB management was hopeful of David’s return in the business end of the tournament, but the cricketer failed to recover on time.
Bengaluru, meanwhile, haven’t made any changes to their playing XI. There were concerns about Phil Salt’s availability, but the England international returned to India on the morning of June 3 after the birth of his child. He will be opening the innings alongside Virat Kohli, who is in phenomenal form at the moment.
RCB will also be confident of their chances, given that the Rajat Patidar-led side has already defeated PBKS in Qualifier 1. They not just won the game but decimated them, which might play in the minds of PBKS players. They beat Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2, which is a positive sign, but the form of the openers is a concern.
Meanwhile, Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer has won the toss and elected to bowl first in the final. Speaking on playing the final, Iyer noted that he doesn’t want to think about the past and his body is feeling fresh after the win against Mumbai.
“ We're going to bowl. Only want to give positive signs to my mind and body. It's an amazing day. Crowd is electrifying. All we have to do is come here and cherish. Boys are in brilliant shape and mindset. All we spoke about in the team meeting is the more calm you are, the better. Nerves are fine. I won't say it's just like another game. It's the final and we're going to play like a final. Tremendous feeling just thinking about lifting the trophy. Same team,” Iyer said after the toss.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal