Picking a combined RCB-SRH playing 11 with impact sub ahead of IPL 2025 match ft. Virat Kohli, Pat Cummins

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Friday, May 23, in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). This match, initially scheduled to be played in Bengaluru, was moved out due to a heavy rainfall alert.

RCB have already qualified for the IPL 2025 playoffs and currently sit second in the table with 17 points in their kitty. RCB have already won eight games this season, with a further two yet to be played.

SRH, meanwhile, have presented an entirely different story altogether. The runners-up of the previous edition of the IPL have seemed shadows of their former selves in this campaign and currently sit eighth in the standings. They have won just four out of their 12 games so far, and have been eliminated.

In this piece, we take a look at a combined RCB-SRH playing XI ahead of this game:

Top-order batters: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Virat Kohli

Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head will be expected to open the innings for this team, with the iconic Virat Kohli slated to walk out at number three. Head, who missed SRH's previous encounter due to Covid-19, is expected to be fit and available for selection in this one.

Little needs to be said about the destruction that Sharma and Head can bring at the top of the order, even though the two have not fired in tandem this season as well as they did in their last campaign. Kohli, who opens for RCB, will have to bat at number three in this game.

The legendary batter, who recently hung up his boots from Test cricket, has had a decent IPL so far, with 505 runs in 11 innings. He will be expected to play a decisive role in RCB's run in the playoffs, with his team banking upon his experience and composure at the top of the order.

Middle-order batters and wicketkeeper: Rajat Patidar, Heinrich Klaasen, Tim David and Jitesh Sharma

Rajat Patidar will bat at number four in this team, followed by Heinrich Klaasen and Tim David, who are the specialist power-hitters. They will be succeeded by Jitesh Sharma, who is a finisher par excellence, especially in this format of the game, and also the designated wicketkeeper of this team.

Patidar and Klaasen are good hitters of spin bowling and have had fairly good seasons with the bat so far, striking at 140 and 155, respectively. Klaasen, especially, is known to play well with a straight bat and tear into spinners whenever they err even slightly - the margin for error against him is quite less.

David, too, has done well in the limited opportunities he has had for RCB this season, averaging a godlike 93 and striking the ball at 193. He, along with Sharma, who will come in next, are the right people to take this team over the finishing line, either when batting in the first innings or the second.

Bowlers: Krunal Pandya, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel

Krunal Pandya is this team's bowling all-rounder and will be expected to chip in with the bat lower down the order. However, he is mainly in the team to contribute with the ball, with his speciality being restricting run-scoring opportunities and taking games to the death. Pat Cummins, meanwhile, will lead this team.

Along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cummins will open the bowling for this team, and the duo will be expected to make life challenging for opposition batters. RCB's Bhuvneshwar, who is also an SRH legend, has been in fine form this season with 12 wickets in 10 matches so far. Cummins, meanwhile, has picked up 13 wickets.

Harshal Patel will be the third seamer in this team, with his expertise in bowling slower deliveries towards the death being highly in demand. The purple cap winner of IPL 2024 has been in excellent form this time around as well, picking up 15 wickets so far. His dipping yorkers and cutters make life tough for batters.

Impact substitute: Suyash Sharma

RCB leg spinner Suyash Sharma will be the impact substitute in this game, given that the squad has only four designated bowlers. Although Abhishek Sharma will be expected to fill in the role of the fifth bowler occasionally, Suyash's presence as the impact substitute is bound to give skipper Cummins something to bank on.

Suyash has been one of the finds of this season's IPL, even though he has picked up just four wickets in 10 matches so far. His bowling has been widely appreciated for its variety. His consistency in bowling good areas has also been lauded, and he will be expected to come in as a substitute for this team when they are bowling.