Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings teams are ready for the title match of IPL 2025. Both the teams have reached the final after a long time and have never won the title so far. The final match between RCB and Punjab will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and both these teams will try to end the title drought.

Eyes will be on Kohli.

In the final match, once again all eyes will be on Virat Kohli, who has recently said goodbye to Test cricket. Kohli is in great form this season and he will be expected to play a big innings in the final. Kohli has been associated with RCB since the beginning of the IPL and this will be his fourth final match. Thousands of fans wearing jersey number 18 can be seen supporting Kohli in the final match to be held at Narendra Modi Stadium. Kohli (614 runs) has performed well this time as well like every year. He was the main pillar of RCB's batting this year too.

Will Tim David play?

This year, Kohli has not been the only player on whom everyone's attention has been focused, but he has quietly worked to strengthen RCB. Phil Salt gave RCB a good start by giving good support to the Indian superstar, while Mayank Agarwal, captain Rajat Patidar, and Jitesh Sharma are reliable players in the batting order. Tim David could not play in the last two matches of RCB due to injury, so it remains to be seen whether he is fit for this match or not. He has played an important role in the death overs along with Romario Shepherd.

Bowling is strong due to the presence of Hazelwood-Bhuvneshwar.

For RCB, Josh Hazelwood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar being in form has been a relief news. Josh Hazelwood (21 wickets) has made a significant contribution to RCB. He is currently fourth in the list of highest wicket-takers in the current season of IPL. RCB has performed well from start to finish this time, leaving behind its past problems. He entered the final by defeating Punjab by eight wickets in the first qualifier and his team will be committed to repeat this performance.

Shreyas will have to show his strength again.

On the other hand, captain Shreyas Iyer had performed strongly for Punjab Kings and he will be expected to perform similarly in the final. Punjab Kings, who have consistently topped the second half of the points table, have made significant progress under the supervision of captain Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting. Kolkata Knight Riders became champions last year under the leadership of Iyer (603 runs). Reaching the IPL final for the second time in a row in this way says a lot about his abilities as a leader who organizes his players well like no other in this format. So it is not surprising that Iyer is the only cricketer in the 18-year history of the tournament to have led three different teams to the IPL final, with Delhi Capitals being the third team.

Better performance is expected from Chahal.

Punjab Kings have good batsmen to support Iyer in the form of Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis, Priyansh Arya, and Shashank Singh so that he can maintain his position firmly and also make aggressive attacks on the opposition camp. Without Marco Jansen, Punjab's bowling looked a bit weak, but keeping Mumbai Indians in check throughout the innings on a batting-friendly wicket shows that its attack is not too weak. Yuzvendra Chahal is still suffering from a hand injury and was not in his best form in the second qualifier, but Punjab will expect him to perform well against his former franchise.

The probable playing 11 of both the teams for the final match of IPL 2025 is as follows...

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vishak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.

RCB: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (captain), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma.

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