Robin Uthappa gave his take on Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2025 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, on May 29. The former RCB player agreed that both teams have momentum on their sides, following their massive win in their previous games, respectively.
Uthappa hoped it to be a humdinger of a game and gave a slight edge for the Kings, considering that the match would be played at their home in Mullanpur. However, the former RCB player claimed that the 3-time finalists could respond strongly, especially after the way they beat Lucknow Super Giants in their backyard to qualify for Qualifier 1.
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“Both Punjab Kings and RCB have momentum. It’s going to be a humdinger of a game. Punjab may have a slight edge playing at home. But RCB can absolutely respond. After this game and this kind of batting performance by RCB? 100 per cent,” said Uthappa on JioHotstar.
How did Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru qualify for Qualifier 1 in IPL 2025?
PBKS and RCB have been two of the best sides of the 18th edition of the league, alongside the Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians. The two sides, which have never won a title, will be facing each other in Mullanpur. It was not decided just two days ago, as both PBKS and RCB had to win their last league stage match to qualify for Qualifier 1.
Punjab Kings did so with a dominating win over MI. The 2014 finalists bowled well and restricted the 5-time champions to a total of 184 runs on the board. While Arshdeep Singh and Vijaykumar Vyshak starred with the ball, Josh Inglis and Priyansh Arya played great knocks against a quality bowling attack and helped PBKS beat MI.
RCB had a bigger challenge against LSG, as they were asked to chase 228 in Lucknow. The Bengaluru-based franchise pulled off an incredible win by completing the run chase by 6 wickets with 8 balls to spare. Virat Kohli (54 off 30), Nuwan Thushara (1/26), Jitesh Sharma (85 off 33), and Mayank Agarwal (41 off 23) starred in their win with useful contributions from Krunal Pandya, giving off 14 runs in his 2-over spell and Phil Salt (30 off 19).
