Match 42 of the 2025 Indian Premier League season sees the Royal Challengers Bengaluru lock horns with the Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
For the game, here are our preview and prediction.
Both teams come into this game on the opposite ends of the points table. While RCB are currently sitting pretty in third place with ten points, the Royals are languishing in eighth with just four points, away from the bottom spot on only net run rate.
This season, RCB have been led well by their new skipper, Rajat Patidar. However, while they have been excellent away from home, winning all five of their games, it’s their home form that has been a massive concern. They have lost all three games played at the Chinnaswamy; a game against an out-of-sorts Royals side might be just what they need.
Bengaluru’s batting has been motoring along quite nicely. Phil Salt and Virat Kohli have been giving them quick starts in the Powerplay. Kohli (322 runs) is in contention for the Orange Cap, while the likes of Salt (213 runs) and Rajat Patidar (221 runs) have been faring well as well.
The RCB bowlers have also been holding their own. Josh Hazlewood (12 wickets) has been his usual metronomic self, while Krunal Pandya (10 wickets), and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8 wickets) have also been delivering in crunch situations.
RCB’s last game against the Punjab Kings was the perfect example of how dangerous they can be when they are on song as a unit.
The Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, are a classic case of one step forward, four steps back. In their last game against the Lucknow Super Giants, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. A defeat against RCB could more or less seal their fate for the season.
For RR, apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal (307 runs) and Sanju Samson (224 runs), no other batter has been able to deliver the goods. While Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s explosive debut was a breath of fresh air, it is unreasonable to rely on a 14-year-old to bail them out of their predicament.
With the ball, none of RR’s frontline bowlers have crossed the ten-wicket mark, which further explains their situation. Wanindu Hasaranga (9 wickets) and Jofra Archer (8 wickets) have been expensive, in particular, and have not managed to take wickets regularly either.
The last game between the two sides in Jaipur was a rather comfortable victory for RCB. The Royals will be looking to avoid the same fate this time around as they seek to save their season from freefall.
As far as this game is concerned, RCB should be able to win it convincingly. With the Royals having lost four games on the trot, it is hard to look past a fifth straight defeat for the Men in Pink.
Fantasy XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal (vc), Virat Kohli (c), Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Rajat Patidar, Wanindu Hasaranga, Krunal Pandya, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Josh Hazlewood
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Winners Prediction: Royal Challengers Bengaluru
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