Star Punjab Kings spinner Yuvendra Chahal missed the blockbuster clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 of the ongoing IPL 2025. He is the leading wicket-taker in IPL history, but hasn’t been in his usual form this year. He has been out of action since the match against Rajasthan Royals on May 18. Explaining the reason behind it, the Punjab management revealed that the 34-year-old was nursing a finger injury but was expected to be fit for the playoffs.
However, Chahal failed to recover on time as Harpreet Brar retained his position in the playing XI. Apart from the leg-spinner, Punjab also missed the service of Marco Jansen. The South Africa international had to leave India to join the national team for the upcoming World Test Championship final against Australia.
In his absence, the team management backed Kyle Jamieson. The New Zealand international was signed in place of Lockie Ferguson, thow was ruled out earlier in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to bowl first in Mullanpur. The good news for them is that Josh Hazlewood is back in the playing XI, which will boost their chance to qualify for the summit clash, slated to be played on June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Australia international replaced Nuwan Thushara in the playing XI. On the other hand, Tim David missed the blockbuster clash vs PBKS as he is still recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Teams:
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma