May 29, IPL 2025: The league round of IPL 2025 is over and it is the turn of Qualifier-1 of the playoffs. This is the match in which the winning team will get entry into the final. Qualifier-1 to be played on Thursday will be played between those two teams, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have not yet won the IPL title. Both the teams have definitely reached the final of IPL, but have never become the winner. Along with this, a clash will also be seen between Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in this match. The last time these two teams came face to face, Shreyas clashed with Virat over his celebration. Now the same clash can be seen in today’s match as well. This season both the teams have come face to face twice. Punjab has won one match and Bangalore has won one match.
What is the whole matter?
Actually, last time both the teams came face to face in Mullanpur itself. RCB won the match and after the match was over, Kohli was seen teasing Punjab captain Shreyas with his style of celebration. On this, Shreyas, standing at point, moved towards Kohli saying something. When both of them came close to each other for a handshake, Kohli was still seen laughing and saying something. It seemed that Shreyas was objecting to this. There was no smile on his face and he was seen in a serious mood. It was clear that he was not happy with Kohli’s style of celebration. A serious conversation took place between the two. However, Kohli was still seen smiling.
RCB has reached the final three times
In the overall IPL, RCB has reached the final three times and Punjab once. RCB last played the IPL final in 2016 and Punjab in 2014. RCB is playing the playoffs for the eighth time and Punjab for the third time. The special thing is that the team that loses in Qualifier-1 will get a chance to enter the final once again by playing with the winner of the Eliminator between Gujarat and Mumbai in Qualifier-2, due to which the possibility of a final between these two teams cannot be ruled out.
Punjab is going to play the playoffs by staying on top on the strength of captain Shreyas Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting. At the same time, RCB has a player in the form of Virat, who does not accept defeat at any moment. Then the whole team will also unite from within to give Virat his first IPL title.
Virat’s form will benefit
Josh Hazlewood and Tim David will also be available for selection in this match for RCB, which got the right to play in Qualifier-1 due to Jitesh Sharma’s miraculous innings. Jitesh has given balance to RCB in the middle order. Then how can we forget Virat. He’s playing really well this season. Eight half-centuries have helped him reach 802 runs. As he chased the target, he played magnificently. Virat himself will leave no stone unturned for his first IPL title.
Shreyas-Ponting duo put in a lot of effort
Punjab came in a new avatar this season. It chose Shreyas as the new captain and gave the coaching responsibility to the legendary Ricky Ponting. Both of them have the experience of winning IPL titles. Shreyas was the captain of defending champion Kolkata. At the same time, Ponting was a part of the Mumbai team in 2013. The credit for Punjab playing in the playoffs for the first time after 2014 goes to the pair of Shreyas and Ponting, who gave a new look to the team. The combination of both has been successful in getting the best performance from the players, making it a strong team. Opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh (499 runs) and Priyansh Arya (424 runs) have been excellent for Punjab.
Read More: PBKS Playoff Journey: Can Punjab Kings Rewrite History?
