IPL 2026: PBKS wins toss, puts RCB to bat first in Dharamshala
Dharamshala, May 17
Punjab Kings have decided to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in match 61 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday.
This match will be Shreyas Iyer's 100th IPL match as a skipper.
After winning the toss, PBKS skipper Iyer said, "We're going to bowl. I'm not going by the stats; we're clearly seeing how the games pan out. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn't matter. I didn't know that it was my 100th game as captain, but I'll be happy if we win. We've been bowling fantastically, but we need to enjoy the pressure. Brar and Lockie come in."
PBKS made a couple of changes in their playing XI for this match as they brought Harpreet Brar and Lockie Ferguson in place of Xavier Bartlett and Marco Jansen.
Jitesh Sharma is leading RCB in today's match in the full-time captain Rajt Patidar's absence.
Speaking during the toss, RCB's stand-in skipper Jitesh said, "We would have loved to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs."
On Patidar's absence from the match, he said, "Rajat is doing fantastic, and we should see him in Hyderabad. Every game is important; this win can change a lot for other teams and us. Suyash replaces Rajat, and Romario replaces Duffy."
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact subs: Rasikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan
Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey.
RCB is leading the points table with eight wins in 12 matches, and a win here may book their place in the playoffs. PBKS will be looking to end their five-match losing streak in this match.
— ANI
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