Lucknow, May 23 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 65 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

Jitesh Sharma is leading the Bengaluru side in the vital clash, with Rajat Patidar coming in as an impact sub after having suffered a finger injury. Other than that, veteran batter Mayank Aggarwal comes in on the side, replacing Devdutt Padikkal.

RCB could very well move into the top spot with a win on Friday, as Gujarat Titans were handed a 33-run loss by Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday.

It was decided that RCB will not play their final home fixture of the IPL at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and will officially relocate this fixture to Lucknow after a yellow alert issued by the Indian Meteorological Department predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Bengaluru until Thursday.

Jitesh revealed his decision to bowl first came due to the change in venue and the side’s unfamiliarity with the conditions.

“It’s my first time captaining RCB. I captained PBKS against SRH last year. We are thinking of bowling first, and want to take most of the surface moisture. We are looking forward to finishing the league at the top of the table and entering 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. Mayank comes in for Padikkal,” said Jitesh at the toss.

It has been a disappointing season for the Sunrisers, who entered the tournament as runners-up in the previous edition, but they would still want to finish on a high. Skipper Pat Cummins confirmed three changes to the side with Travis Head, Abhinav Manohar, and Jaydev Unadkat all coming into the Playing XI.

“We have shown some good signs in the last few games. We are building our team for the next season. We need to play more consistently. We need to be at our best. Last game, we chased down 200 comfortably. I have been bowling with Shami. We would have bowled, not sure how it will play. We have three changes. Travis Head is back, Abhinav Manohar and Unadkat are in,” said Cummins.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Jitesh Sharma (wk/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Suyash Sharma

Impact substitutes: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Manoj Bhandage, Jacon Bethell, Swapnil Singh

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 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

Impact substitutes: Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh

–IANS

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