New captain for RCB vs SRH, injured Rajat Patidar plays as impact substitute
Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma led Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their crunch IPL 2025 match against SunRisers Hyderabad in Lucknow on Friday, May 23. Rajat Patidar was available to play the game, but he was named as Impact Player. Rajat suffered a finger injury while fielding in RCB’s last completed match — against Chennai Super Kings on May 3.
Despite a 20-day break, Rajat Patidar was not able to fully recover from the finger injury and be available to lead the team. It must have been a precautionary measure from RCB, who are assured of a place in the playoffs. | RCB vs SRH, IPL 2025 Coverage |
This was the second time Jitesh has had an opportunity to lead an IPL side. Last year, he stood in for Shikhar Dhawan in a game for Punjab Kings against SunRisers Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal was picked for his first game of the IPL 2025 season after he was brought in as a replacement for the injured Devdutt Padikkal. Phil Salt replaced Jacob Bethell in the XI while Josh Hazlewood was unavailable for the crucial encounter at the business end of the playoffs stage. Lungi Ngidi continued to play in the XI in place of Hazlewood.
Salt, Romario Shepherd, Tim David and Ngidi were the four overseas players for the Royal Challengers on Friday.
On the other hand, SunRisers welcomed back Travis Head for their penultimate league game of the season. The Australian opener missed their previous encounter — against Lucknow Super Giants after failing to recover in time from Covid-19.
RCB vs SRH: TEAM NEWS
RCB XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Mayank Agarwal, Jitesh Sharma (C/WK), Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma.
Impact Subs: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh.
SRH XI: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (C), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.
Impact Subs: Mohammad Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh.
