RCB vs PBKS, IPL 2025 Final: Virat Kohli's nearly two-decade-long agonising wait to lay hands on an IPL Trophy with Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be up against Shreyas Iyer's resolve to make first-time winners out of the tenacious Punjab Kings when the 18th season finale of the world's biggest T20 league unfolds in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

The summit clash here at the Narendra Modi Stadium could witness thousands of fans donning jersey No.18 to support Kohli, who is in an IPL final for a fourth time overall.

The sentiments of the fans would indeed run high given it will be Kohli's last appearance on the cricket field for a while, having recently retired from Test cricket, and India's next ODI assignment is a few months away. Parting ways with issues that plagued their previous campaigns, RCB have been clinical all the way through, coming into the final with an eight-wicket hammering of Punjab in a one-sided Qualifier 1.

Kohli (614 runs) has gone about his business like every other year, piling up runs at the top and continuing to lay platforms, but where it has made the difference for RCB is that there's a lot more substance to their batting beyond the superstar. Kohli has not been the only one to carry the focus and attention this year, rather, he has quietly gone about his business in fortifying for RCB.

Phil Salt is a perfect foil for the Indian superstar who goes all-out in his attack, while Mayank Agarwal, skipper Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma are the trusted lieutenants of that batting line-up.

While the Qualifier 2 match in Ahmedabad already faced a long delay due to inclement weather on Sunday evening, there remains a fear that the IPL 2025 final between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru might be washed out, even with the extra two hours the IPL governing council has granted each fixture to be played to completion.


Is there a reserve day available for RCB vs PBKS IPL 2025 Final?

If rain washes out the RCB vs PBKS IPL 2025 final completely on Tuesday or even if it is needed to complete a game that has already begun, the action will resume on the next day, on June 4, Wednesday.

The IPL 2023 final between Gujarat Titans and the Chennai Super Kings was played at the same venue, and no action could be made possible due to a complete washout on the scheduled date. However, the teams returned for another rain-interrupted match the following day, which saw the teams play 15 overs each, and CSK win by the DLS method.

However, there is also a situation in which both days get washed out, and this will result in the IPL trophy going to the team that finished higher in the points table. This will be an extremely bitter pill for RCB fans to swallow, as Punjab finished top of the table, but level on points and only 0.07 points ahead in terms of the net run-rate.


RCB vs PBKS Squads, IPL 2025 Final:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Blessing Muzarabani, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash