Follow UsJitesh Sharma will lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Lucknow. Rajat Patidar is in the team but will solely play as an impact player. Patidar cannot field as he is recovering from a finger injury.
According to the rules, a player cannot be an impact player and lead the side at the same time. This is not the first time such an incident has taken place. In fact, in 2023, Virat Kohli led in a couple of games, with Faf du Plessis playing only as a batter.
Jitesh, who was bought for INR 11 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, becomes the ninth player to lead RCB in the IPL. The wicketkeeper-batter has led only once before in the IPL, which incidentally came against SRH last season.
RCB have already made it to the playoffs, and a win in this game will put them on top of the points table and put them in pole position to finish in the top two.
After winning the toss, Jitesh elected to bowl first. Among the changes is Mayank Agarwal returning to the RCB XI for the first time in 4,422 days. In a massive boost for SRH, Travis Head returns to the team after recovering from Covid-19.
Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru XI
Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Suyash Sharma
Impact Subs: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Jacob Bethell, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad XI
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
Mohammad Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh