IPL 2026 PBKS vs RCB Playing 11: Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings will square off against Jitesh Sharma-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 61st match of the IPL 2026 on May 17 at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala.

Despite an impressive start, Punjab Kings lost momentum in the crucial phase of the IPL 2026 season, suffering five consecutive defeats. The Shreyas-led side has 6 wins out of 12 games and need to win the remaining games to strengthen their qualifications chances.

Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru had an impressive campaign with 8 wins out of 12 games and sits comfortably in the top of the IPL 2026 points table.

The cricketing sides have met on 37 occasions where RCB have 19 wins while Punjab have 18 wins.

Punjab Kings won the toss and opted to bowl. Speaking at the toss, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer said, “We’re going to bowl. I’m not going by the stats, we’re clearly seeing how the games pan out. if we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn’t matter.”

“I didn’t know that it was my 100th game as captain, but I’ll be happy if we win. We’ve been bowling fantastic,k but we need to enjoy the pressure.

RCB standin captain Jitesh Sharma said, “We would have loved to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs. Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad. Every game is important, this win can change a lot for us and other teams. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy.

IPL 2026 PBKS vs RCB Playing 11

Punjab Kings Playing 11: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Playing 11: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood.