The high-altitude, picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium is all set to host a high-stakes rematch of last year’s final. Punjab Kings (PBKS) lock horns with the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in Match 61 of IPL 2026 on Sunday.
The stakes could not be higher for either side. Table-toppers RCB enter the contest with 16 points from 12 games, needing just one solitary victory to officially secure their spot in the IPL 2026 playoffs. On the flip side, Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings find themselves on thin ice. After an exceptional unbeaten run in their first six matches, PBKS have suffered a dramatic slump, losing five consecutive matches. For them, tonight is a definitive must-win affair to keep their playoff ambitions breathing. However, the biggest talking point ahead of the first ball was the sudden absence of RCB’s regular skipper and middle-order linchpin, Rajat Patidar.
Why Rajat Patidar is not playing against PBKS in today’s match?
The defending champions suffered a massive pre-match jolt when regular captain Rajat Patidar was ruled out of the crucial fixture due to a concussion injury. Patidar, who has been in blistering form this season with 326 runs at a strike rate of 195, did not travel with the squad to Dharamsala and missed the team’s pre-match practice sessions.
In his absence, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has stepped up to captain the Bengaluru franchise. Speaking at the toss, stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma shed light on Patidar’s status and the team’s mindset:
“We would have loved to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs. Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad. We are at the business end of the tournament, and I’m happy with how the team is performing, both individually and as a unit. Yes, we are very pleased that the team looks so stable right now. We are giving our absolute best in every department. One win tonight secures our spot in the playoffs, so it’s a massive game for us. Every game is important at this stage. This win can change the entire table – not just for us, but for several other teams as well. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy.”
On the other side of the coin, it is a landmark evening for Punjab Kings’ skipper Iyer, who is walking out for his 100th IPL match as captain. Winning the toss and opting to field first, Iyer focused on staying grounded despite the occasion:
“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 seriously had no clue that this was my 100th game as a captain but it feels great. It feels like a great opportunity for me to win my 100th game (as captain). The bowling has been fantastic, but there are pressure moments where you need to execute and so you can’t change the past, nor you can’t anticipate the future. The beauty is to stay in the moment and see the moment and enjoy the pressure. Two changes for us: (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson) come in.”
To handle the structural shift, RCB brought in dynamic spinner Suyash Sharma to balance the bowling department while dynamic all-rounder Romario Shepherd replaces Jacob Duffy in the playing squad.
Playing XI and Impact Substitutes of Both Teams
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (wk/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma.
Impact Substitutes: Rasikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Impact Substitutes: Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey.
