Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru: In a high-stakes clash at the IPL 2025, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the iconic venue on Sunday evening, April 27.
Rajat Patidar, leading RCB, emphasized at the toss that the pitch looked like a batting beauty and was unlikely to change much over the course of the match. “We like to chase. It’s our first win at home recently, and we want to continue playing good cricket, learning and improving every match,” Patidar stated confidently. England’s Jacob Bethell replaces Phil Salt in their playing XI.
Delhi Capitals’ skipper Axar Patel, however, had a different reading of the surface. Axar mentioned he would have preferred to bat first even if they had won the toss, citing the dryness of the pitch which would aid their three-pronged spin attack in the second innings. “There was no dew in the last game but some in the one before that against Mumbai. Still, we would have batted first. Faf is back, and the Impact Player will be decided based on the situation,” Axar added.
The big news for DC fans is the return of Faf du Plessis to the playing XI, strengthening their top-order alongside Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, and KL Rahul, who continues to keep wickets.
Here’s how the two teams line up:
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI):
Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Axar Patel (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):
Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Both sides have also named their Impact Player substitutes, providing them flexibility based on how the match progresses:
Delhi Capitals Impact Subs:
Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs:
Devdutt Padikkal, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh
It will be interesting to see whose strategy works better — RCB’s decision to chase on what they feel is a stable surface, or DC’s faith in their spinners to dominate the second innings. As the match unfolds under the lights, fans can expect a thrilling contest between two hungry sides aiming to climb up the IPL 2025 standings.
