Cricket News

IPL 2025 | Match 37: PBKS vs RCB | Preview and Predictions

RCB looking for revenge after big loss at home

Match 37 of the 2025 Indian Premier League season brings us a clash between the Punjab Kings and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on April 20.

For the game, here are our preview and predictions.

Indian Premier League 2025 | Match 37: Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 15:30 IST, April 20

Days after facing each other at Bengaluru’s home ground, Punjab Kings and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) meet again, this time at Punjab’s backyard for their second encounter of the season. 

Hosts Punjab will come into this game on a high after picking up a big win away from home against Bengaluru just two days ago. Punjab’s bowling has been their key recently, with the bowlers bailing them out against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and also bundling out Royal Challengers Bengaluru cheaply in the rain-curtailed game in Bengaluru. The biggest positive for the Punjab Kings has to be the return to form for Yuzvendra Chahal, the Indian Premier League’s all-time highest wicket taker. Arshdeep Singh along with Xavier Bartlett and Marco Jansen have been getting back to their economical selves at the top whilst chipping in with wickets.

Punjab’s batting though, in the last two games will be a cause of concern for Shreyas Iyer. Chasing 96 against RCB, they lost 5 wickets as their heave-ho approach has been caught out by their opponents while KKR also spun a web around the Punjab batters at their last game in Mullanpur. 

RCB, who started their campaign brilliantly, have been going back to the old mistakes which have affected them each season. A top-heavy batting lineup doesn’t have any depth with Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal being the heavy lifters for the RCB team with the bat. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood have been key with the ball up front but at a Mullanpur pitch which looked like it had some assistance for the spinners last time around, the likes of Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma and even Liam Livingstone might have a strong performance. 

The Mullanpur strip showed last time around that it’s got something for the spinners, but there is plenty for the batters as well. While Punjab might be on a high, the experienced RCB squad hold a slight edge in this encounter given the quality in their squad. 

Fantasy XI: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Josh Inglis, Krunal Pandya, Glenn Maxwell, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood

Venue: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur

Winners Prediction: Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Aditya Chaudhuri

Hailing from the City of Joy, the things that bring me joy are cricket, a good non-tilt CS:GO session, F1 and movies.

Recent Posts

Looking at Matthias Jaissle, the new Newcastle United head coach

Here, we look at Matthias Jaissle's playing and coaching careers, his tactics and philosophy, and…

2 days ago

Silverstone announces major deal with PepsiCo

The Silverstone ground, which hosts some of the most iconic motorsporting events such as the…

2 days ago

Formula E signs new deal with giffgaff

Formula E has announced a new partnership with mobile and broadband provider giffgaff, who joins…

2 days ago

Mo Salah signing for Trabzonspor continues Turkish clubs’ quest to overthrow Galatasaray

Mohamed Salah's move to Trabzonspor has finally put to rest what was turning out to…

2 days ago

Eberechi Eze: Brand Endorsements | Investments | Charity Work

Here, we look at the brand endorsements, collaborations, investments and charity work of English professional…

2 days ago

Neeraj Chopra revealed as co-owner of UBS Athletics Kids Cup to grow grassroots sport in India

Indian Olympic gold medalist and star javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra has been announced as a…

2 days ago