Unchanged CSK opt to bowl; no Hazlewood for RCB

Toss Chennai Super Kings opt to bowl vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni opted to bowl against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on what he called a "tacky" Chinnaswamy surface, which he felt would get better for batting later in the evening.

RCB captain Rajat Patidar said that they would have preferred to chase as well. They made one change, handing Lungi Ngidi a franchise debut in place of Josh Hazlewood. Paditar didn't specify whether Hazlewood was injured or rested.

Hazlewood's absence is a significant setback for RCB: he is the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2025, with 18 strikes in ten games at an economy rate of 8.44. Jacob Bethell kept his place in the team in the absence of Phil Salt, who had also missed RCB's previous game with illness.

CSK were unchanged, which meant the likes of Vansh Bedi and C Andre Siddarth will have to wait further for their IPL debuts. Dhoni said that the CSK team management was seeing their remaining four games as an opportunity to build for IPL 2026. They became the first team to be knocked out of contention for the IPL 2025 playoffs after losing to Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Chepauk.

If RCB beat CSK tonight, they will become the first team to 16 points this season. They are currently placed third, behind Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT) who also have 14 points each.

For RCB, wristspinner Suyash Sharma might come in as an Impact sub when they bowl in the second innings. CSK are set to bring in Shivam Dube as their Impact sub in place of one of the bowlers when they chase.

A rain threat hangs over the RCB vs CSK fixture in Bengaluru, with the met department predicting that "rain or thundershowers would occur towards afternoon or evening." The weather was clear at the time of the toss.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1 Jacob Bethell, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Rajat Patidar (capt), 5 Romario Shepherd, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Tim David, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Yash Dayal
Impact subs options: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Liam Livingstone, Swapnil Singh

CSK: 1 Shaik Rasheed, 2 Ayush Mhatre, 3 Sam Curran, 4 Ravindra Jadeja, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Anshul Kamboj, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Matheesha Pathirana
Impact subs options: Shivam Dube, R Ashwin, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh