27 May 2025 ko Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, Lucknow mein LSG aur RCB ke beech ek high-stakes match khela gaya. Ye match RCB ke liye bahut crucial tha kyunki jeetne par unka top-two finish confirm ho jata. Toss jeet kar RCB ne bowling choose ki, kyunki pitch par mixed mitti aur grass ka acha cover tha – jahan cutters aur slower balls kaafi effective ho sakte the, jaise commentator Matthew Hayden ne bhi bola.
RCB ki Strategy aur Impact Player Wala Twist
RCB ke full-time captain Rajat Patidar abhi bhi finger injury se recover kar rahe the, isliye wo field nahi kar paaye aur Impact Player ke roop mein squad mein shamil the. Captaincy ka charge Jitesh Sharma ke paas tha, jo pehle bhi SRH ke against team lead kar chuke the.
RCB ne do changes kiye – injured Tim David ki jagah Liam Livingstone ko liya gaya batting boost ke liye, aur Nuwan Thushara ne Lungi Ngidi ko replace kiya jo South Africa wapas chale gaye the. Josh Hazlewood rehab ke baad squad mein laut to aaye, par unhe playoffs ke liye bacha kar rakha gaya. Playing XI mein Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara, aur Suyash Sharma shamil the. Impact Players mein Patidar ke saath Rasikh Dar, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert aur Swapnil Singh the.
Par toss ke baad ek confusion ho gaya jab RCB ke team sheet mein galti se Patidar ko starting XI mein likh diya gaya. Jitesh ne toss ke waqt clear bola tha ki Patidar sirf Impact Player honge. Agar LSG chahta to is galti ka faida utha ke RCB ko ek injured player ke saath khilata, lekin LSG ne sportsmanship dikhate hue correction allow kar diya. Commentary pe Sanjay Bangar ne bhi bola ki yeh LSG ki generosity thi.
LSG ka Squad aur Rathi ki Wapsi
LSG captain Rishabh Pant ne bhi 2 changes kiye – Digvesh Rathi ek match ki ban ke baad wapas aaye, aur Matthew Breetzke ko Aiden Markram ke jagah liya gaya, jo WTC final ke liye ghar wapas chale gaye. LSG ka XI tha: Breetzke, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Pant (capt & wk), Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan aur Will O’Rourke. Impact Player options mein Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuvraj Chaudhary aur Arshin Kulkarni the.
Rathi ki wapsi important thi kyunki LSG pehle hi playoff race se bahar ho chuki thi, par wo season ka end strong karna chah rahe the. Recent games mein unki bowling kaafi expensive rahi thi, to Rathi jaise bowler se unhe thodi depth milne ki umeed thi. Pant ne bola ki unka focus fearless cricket khelne ka tha, aur RCB ki top-two hopes ko todne ka tha.
Match ka Context aur Stakes
RCB ke liye yeh must-win game tha. Match se pehle unke 17 points the, aur jeet se wo 19 pe pahuch jaate – jo top-two finish confirm karta. Haar se unhe Eliminator khelna padta. 2022 mein bhi unka similar path tha jab Patidar ne LSG ke khilaaf Eliminator mein 112* maara tha. Is season mein RCB ka away record perfect tha – 6 mein se 6 matches jeete the. Lucknow mein jeet kar wo pehli team ban jaati jo IPL history mein sabhi away games jeet ti.
LSG ke paas lose karne ko kuch nahi tha, par wo spoilers ban ke aaye the. Mitchell Marsh ke century se unhone Gujarat Titans ko hara diya tha, aur Nicholas Pooran jaise power-hitter ke paas spin ke against sabse zyada sixes ka record bhi tha (25 this season).
Patidar ka Role aur Injury Update
Rajat Patidar, jinhone 2022 mein Eliminator mein LSG ke khilaaf dhamaka kiya tha, abhi bhi finger injury se jujh rahe the. Wo Impact Player ke role mein batting ke liye available the, par fielding nahi kar sakte the. Injury CSK ke khilaaf match mein lagi thi, aur India-Pak tensions ki wajah se IPL ka short break unke recovery mein helpfull raha. Playoffs se pehle unki fitness ek bada concern tha, specially agar wo KKR ke khilaaf bhi nahi khel paaye to.
Pitch Report aur Tactical Gameplan
Ekana Stadium ka pitch thoda tacky tha, grass ka cover tha, aur Hayden ne bola ki cutters aur slower ones yahan kaam karenge. RCB ka bowling unit – Bhuvi ka experience, Yash Dayal ki discipline, aur Thushara ke variations – is pitch pe effective ho sakte the. LSG ke bowlers bhi – specially Rathi aur Avesh – conditions ka faida uthana chah rahe the. RCB ke batting lineup mein Salt, Kohli (jo RCB ke liye IPL + CL T20 mila ke 9000 runs ke kareeb the), aur Livingstone jaise match-winners the.
Overall Summary
Ye match sirf 2 points ke liye nahi tha – ye RCB ke playoff strategy, team depth, aur pressure handling ka test tha. Injuries ne unhe test kiya, par squad depth aur game awareness unki strength bani. LSG ne bhi ek entertaining, fearless game khelne ka promise diya. Match mein drama, confusion (team sheet wala), aur intensity sab kuch tha – classic IPL style.
