IPL 2026 News: The 61st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 will be played between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday afternoon. RCB’s aim will be to win this match and seal the playoff ticket. The finalists of IPL 2025 will face each other for the first time in this season. The last time they met, RCB won the title. The two teams are in very different situations this season.
Punjab Kings had made a great start to their campaign. This team did not lose even a single match out of 7. Meanwhile, one match remained inconclusive due to rain. PBKS had emerged as one of the strongest teams of the tournament, but their form has deteriorated in recent weeks. Shreyas Iyer’s team has faced five consecutive defeats.
Punjab Kings are fourth in the points table with 13 points from 12 matches. As the playoff battle heats up, Punjab Kings will be desperate to stop this decline and strengthen their chances of making the top-4. On the other hand, RCB is on top of the points table after winning 8 out of 12 matches. This team has 16 points. A win could ensure a playoff ticket for RCB. RCB will try to make it to the top-2 with a win against the Kings. RCB has registered a resounding win against KKR in their last match. Virat Kohli’s century has boosted the morale of the team.
Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore have faced each other 37 times so far in the history of IPL. RCB has the upper hand, having won 19 matches, while Punjab Kings have won 18 matches. Punjab Kings team: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vishak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod (wicketkeeper), Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Payal Avinash, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Vishal Nishad.
Royal Challengers Bangalore team: Rajat Patidar (captain), Virat Kohli, Tim David, Jacob Bethel, Romario Shepherd, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jordan Cox, Suyyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Swapnil Singh, Jacob Duffy, Kanishk Chauhan, Abhinandan Singh, Mangesh Yadav, Phil Salt, Satwik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra.