The captain of the Kings of Punjab, Shreyas Iyer, set the tone for the IPL 2025 final with a celebration drawn after taking the capture of the opener RCB Phil Salt, giving his team an early crucial breakthrough. The time came in the second match of the match, while Salt, who looked dangerous with 16 out of 9, hid a shot and found Iyer halfway through. The PBKS skipper roars with intensity – a release of emotion on the greatest scene, stressing the meaning of the counter. Earlier, Iyer won the draw at the Narendra Modi stadium and chose to make a bowl first, supporting his quisors under the lights. “This is the final and we are going to play like a final,” he said during the draw, refusing to minimize the opportunity. His opposite number Rajat Patidar, driving RCB, echoed calm confidence, saying: “It’s just another game for us”, while confirming an XI unchanged.
Salt’s dismissal has given the ideal start. With Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal at the fold and a range of deep strikers to follow, RCB always has a firepower to display a total competitive. But the early energy of Iyer and the breakthrough could prove to be crucial while Punjab seeks to maintain control in their hunting in a first IPL title.Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Play xi): Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jiteh Sharma (W), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvnehwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
Punjab Kings
(Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis (W), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal