RCB vs SRH Toss Update: RCB opt to bowl first against SRH; Know playing XIs of both teams

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and chose to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on May 23. Jitesh Sharma will be leading RCB as regular captain Rajat Patidar will come as an Impact Player due to injury concerns. Meanwhile, SRH made three changes in Playing XI and brought in Travis Head, Abhinav Manohar and Jaydev Unadkat in their fold.

What did the captains say after the toss?

RCB's stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma, after winning the toss, said:

"It's my first time captaining RCB. I captained PBKS against SRH last year. We are thinking to bowl first, want to take most of the surface from the moisture. We are looking forward to finish the league on top of the table and enter the playoffs. The management has taken care of the players. We have a good atmosphere and culture. We want to win every game and win the cup. Rajat Patidar is the impact player. Mayank comes in for Padikkal."

Meanwhile, SRH skipper Pat Cummins, after losing the toss, said:

"We have shown some good signs in the last few games. We are building our team for the next season. We need to play more consistently. We need to be at our best. Last game we chased down 200 comfortably. I have been bowling with Shami. We would have bowled, not sure how it will play. We have three changes. Travis Head is back, Abhinav Manohar and Unadkat are in."

RCB's Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing 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

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Jacon Bethell, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh

SRH's Playing XI

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing 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

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Mohammad Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh.

Pitch Report

We are on pitch no. 4 in Lucknow. The square boundaries are 60m and 67m respectively, 74m down the ground. The surface is quite dark in colour. There's a decent matting of grass on it, patchy in places. It's very dry, hence the ball will grip in the surface. Spinners will enjoy bowling here. The pacers can take pace off the ball and expect it to hold in the surface, they might get some assistance. Teams love chasing here, so need to get 180-plus if you bat here. The bias is on batting second and chase. It's a wicket where you can't play through the line. The opposition might make some mistakes if they go hard at the top. A pitch where 180-odd is a gettable total

Head-to-Head

RCB and SRH have locked horns with each other 25 times in IPL so far. While RCB have clinched 11 wins, SRH have emerged victorious in 13 matches. Meanwhile, 1 match between between RCB and SRH ended without a result.