Sanjay Bangar, a former Indian cricket player who is now a commentator, has suggested several changes to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) starting lineup for their Qualifier 1 match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on May 29 at New Chandigarh. The IPL 2025 is scheduled for its playoff stage. Bangar feels that in order to contend with PBKS’s potent batting lineup, RCB, who are aiming for their first IPL championship, must bolster their bowling attack.
After defeating the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by an exciting six wickets in their last league game, RCB advanced to the Qualifier 1. LSG was asked to bat first, and with a strong performance from captain Rishabh Pant (118* off 61), they smashed 227/3 in the 20 overs they were given. However, with the help of half-centuries from Virat Kohli and stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma, RCB managed to chase down the score in just 18.4 overs.
Jitesh’s undefeated 85 off 33 balls enabled RCB secure a top-two finish for the first time since 2016 and record the third-highest successful chase in IPL history. Sanjay Bangar suggested replacing Liam Livingstone and Romario Shepherd with Josh Hazlewood and Tim David in the starting lineup and keeping Nuwan Thushara, who finished with figures of 1/26 versus LSG.
Instead of playing Livingstone, play Thushara. After that, the bowling will be amazing. Then Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, and Thushara for Romario Shepherd. On Star Sports, he stated, “The Punjab team is against them, and Punjab has crossed 200 runs six or seven times this season.”
With just 87 runs in seven innings, including a first-ball duck against LSG, Livingstone’s batting performance in the IPL 2025 has been lacklustre. The middle order of RCB has been damaged by his subpar performances. In a similar vein, Shepherd helped out with an undefeated 53* against CSK and showed good economy in a few games, although he gave up 51 runs when bowling against LSG.
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