RCB vs PBKS: Punjab bench Maxwell in favour of Stoinis; rain-affected game against Bengaluru reduced to 14-overs-a-side

Punjab Kings (PBKS) replaced one Australian all-rounder with another in their playing XI for the 2025 Indian Premier League match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Bengaluru, which was delayed by more than two hours due to rain. PBKS benched spin-bowling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who has been having a torrid run with the bat this season, in favour of Marcus Stoinis, who is a handy seam bowler besides an explosive middle-order batter.

PBKS had benched Stoinis in favour of Maxwell for their home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) earlier this week, in which they set a new record for the lowest total successfully defended in the IPL after beating the defending champions by 16 runs.

Maxwell, however, was dismissed for 7 off 10 balls, getting foxed by a googly from Varun Chakravarthy, taking his season tally to 41 runs in six outings at an average of 8.20.

Maxwell, however, was included in PBKS’ list of ‘Impact Subs’, and could make an appearance later in the game for his handy off-spin.

Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar was also included in the PBKS XI, making his first appearance of the season. RCB captain Rajat Patidar, meanwhile, announced an unchanged XI for his team.

RCB-PBKS match reduced to 14-overs-a-side

The players however, were made to bide their time for a couple of hours after the scheduled start of play due to heavy rain in the ‘Garden City’ . The toss eventually took place at 9.30 pm IST with play starting 15 minutes later.

The match, though, was reduced to 14-overs a side, making it the first rain-affected game of the season, with the powerplay limited to four overs.

Additionally, a maximum of three bowlers will be allowed to bowl their full quota of four overs, with one bowler allowed to bowl a maximum of two.

RCB vs PBKS Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal; IMPACT SUBS: Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Shreyas Iyer(c), Shashank Singh, Josh Inglis(wk), Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal; IMPACT SUBS: Prabhsimran Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Glenn Maxwell, Praveen Dubey