Predicted RCB playing 11 for revised schedule of IPL 2025

Without much of doubt, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have performed exceptionally well in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season both in the batting as well as bowling departments. The good news for the millions of RCB fans is that the cash-rich T20 league will be restarting from 17 May, 2025 as they will be locking horns with the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) scheduled to be hosted at the M.Chinnnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that the remainder of 17 matches in the T20 competition will be hosted across six cities namely Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Mumbai. In this blog piece, we will take a look at the predicted RCB playing 11 and their chances of qualifying for the IPL 2025 playoffs.

Will RCB win their maiden trophy in IPL 2025?

The Royal Challengers Bangalore are currently slotted at the second spot on the IPL 2025 points table with as many as 8 wins from a total of 11 matches. The Rajat Patidar-led RCB team will be taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening game during the IPL 2025 resumption. The 2016-runners-up will be crossing the swords with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 23 May, 2025. On the other hand, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be playing their final league stage match in this competition against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on 27 May, 2025 at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. 

While considering the IPL 2025 playoffs scenarios, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru have a really good chance this year to win their maiden trophy. Looking at the points table, RCB can finish the league stage of the competition with a maximum of 22 points if they go on to win all of their remaining three matches against KKR, SRH and LSG. However, even if they end up winning just one out of their last three games, the Royal Challengers Bangalore are likely to finish in the top two positions. 

However, the biggest issue coming up for the Royal Challengers Bangalore is that their premier fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is currently struggling with a shoulder niggle and thus, he is unlikely to be available for the remainder of the tournament. Incidentally, Hazlewood has been the key wicket-taker for RCB in this Indian Premier League 2025 season having picked up as many as 18 wickets from 10 matches at an average of 17.28. It is still not clear whether South African pacer Lungi Ngidi will be available for the remainder of the competition. 

On the other hand, RCB captain Rajat Patidar is also struggling with a finger injury and therefore, he is a doubtful starter for the match against Kolkata Knight Riders starting on Saturday. In his absence, wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma is likely to take up the captaincy duties. There are concerns over the availability of Tim David and Romario Shepherd as well. 

Predicted RCB Playing 11

Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal.

RCB IPL 2025 Squad

Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (C), Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Lungi Ngidi, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh.