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Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings – An IPL final with the potential for great joy and heartbreak

Published

6 months ago

2025/06/3

Priyan

Seven teams have their names etched on the IPL trophy. One of them doesn’t exist anymore. Two weren’t part of the league when it began.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have been IPL ever-presents. They’ve made four finals between them, but neither has won the title.

RCB and PBKS have instead come to be grouped with Delhi Capitals (DC), another trophy-less OG franchise, into what social media refers to as the IPL’s Holy Trinity. There’s a certain amount of derision in the nickname, but it’s acquired a softer, warmer feel over the years, with even fans of the three teams using it with a sense of irony and solidarity with their fellow sufferers.

On Tuesday night, the trinity won’t be a trinity anymore. One of RCB and PBKS will have finally won the IPL, on their 18th attempt. The other… well, you wouldn’t want to be in that camp.

For a PBKS fan, it would be another pre-season reset – they’ve had too many to keep count of – coming to nothing, and an anticlimactic finish to a campaign full of ingredients that would make for a rollicking sports film: a coach who went out of his way to bring in a captain with a point to prove, the two of them creating a space for a group of uncapped, unheralded local players to grow into starring roles, bringing hope to a team that had till then only known misery.

For an RCB fan, it would be a fourth defeat in a fourth final, and all the promise of a new way – a team that finally found the perfect balance between bat and ball, between top-order flash and batting depth, between superstars and support cast – coming to the same old end.

It would be, above all, another bitter blow for Virat Kohli, who has put together another season of insatiable run-scoring – a record eighth with 500-plus runs – at the tail-end of a monumental 12 months that have included T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy triumphs on the one hand and a bittersweet Test retirement on the other. Destiny, surely, cannot be planning an 18th trophy-less IPL season for the man with 18 on his back?

Two teams, then, are tantalisingly close to finding the fulfillment that has eluded them for 17 years, but one will fall at the last step of the journey. Seldom has an IPL final promised so much joy and so much heartbreak all at once.

Rajat Patidar’s winning six in Qualifier 1 against PBKS was a symbolic moment for RCB, because their batting approach through IPL 2025 has mirrored that of the captain who took over at the start of the season. He set the tone early on too, with Player-of-the-Match performances that helped RCB beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk for the first time in 17 years and Mumbai Indians in Mumbai for the first time in ten years. His returns have tailed off since, though, and his numbers for the season – 286 runs at an average of 23.83 and a strike rate of 142.28 – don’t quite capture his impact. The dip won’t faze him though; he’ll come out playing his shots, and that’s just how RCB might need to bat against a powerhouse PBKS line-up in Ahmedabad, which has been one of the highest-scoring venues this year.

Yuzvendra Chahal has won the IPL once, technically, having played one match for MI when they won the title in 2013. He won’t feel like he’s won it, though: he’s been in two previous finals, with RCB and Rajasthan Royals (RR), and lost both of them. On Tuesday he’ll be up against RCB, with whom he played for eight seasons. A hand injury kept him out of PBKS’ defeat to RCB in Qualifier 1, but he made match-winning contributions against his two other old teams either side of that. In Chahal’s last game before the injury break, his middle-overs craft helped slow RR down after a rollicking start to a chase of 220 – PBKS eventually won by 10 runs. Then, on his comeback, he took the big wicket of Suryakumar Yadav in Qualifier 2 against MI. Chahal has already hurt RCB once this season, taking 2 for 11 in a low-scoring, rain-shortened contest in Bengaluru; can he do it again in the biggest match of the season?

The one major injury doubt ahead of the final surrounds Tim David, who missed RCB’s last two games with a hamstring injury. If he’s fit, he is likely to come straight back into their line-up at the expense of Liam Livingstone.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (probable): Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Liam Livingstone/Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma.

Two days after winning Qualifier 2 against MI at the same ground, PBKS are likely to stick to the same combination. Chahal played against MI and bowled his full quota, but PBKS bowling coach James Hopes revealed after the game that he had been at less than full fitness. If Chahal’s hand doesn’t allow him to play the final, PBKS could either go with just one spinner or bring in Harpreet Brar.

Punjab Kings (probable): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal/Harpreet Brar.

[Cricinfo]

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New mpox strain identified in England

Published

2 hours ago

2025/12/8

Priyan

A new strain of mpox, previously called monkeypox, has been detected in a person in England, say UK health officials.

The virus is a mix of two major types of the mpox virus, and was found in someone who recently returned from travelling in Asia.

Officials say they are still assessing the significance of the new strain.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says it is normal for viruses to evolve. Getting vaccinated remains the best way to protect against severe disease – although an mpox infection is mild for many.

The new virus strain contains elements of two mpox strains, called clade Ib and clade IIb. It currently has no name.

UK health officials recently encouraged gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men to make sure they were vaccinated against mpox.

That call came as a strain called ‘clade Ib’ showed early signs of local spread in some European countries.

‘Clade IIb’ is linked to a global outbreak of mpox in 2022 which affected many countries worldwide.

In the UK, vaccination is available for groups of people at highest risk of catching mpox:

those who have multiple sexual partners
those who engage in group sex
those who visit sex-on-premises venues

Health officials say the vaccine is 75-80% effective at protecting against mpox.

There have been no studies on how well the vaccine protects against this latest strain, although it’s thought there will be a high degree of protection.

Dr Katy Sinka, head of sexually transmitted infections at UKHSA, said genomic testing had allowed it to be detected.

“It’s normal for viruses to evolve, and further analysis will help us understand more about how mpox is changing.

“Getting vaccinated is a proven effective way to protect yourself against severe disease, so please make sure to get the jab if you are eligible,” she said.

Prof Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network at the University of Oxford, said there were “excellent systems” to identify cases and control onward infection in the UK, but in other parts of the world, in more vulnerable populations, “this is harder to achieve”, where access to vaccines is not as reliable.

Prof Lang said if further cases of this strain appeared in the UK and elsewhere, it would be important to understand how it’s being spread and how ill it makes people, in order to assess whether it’s more or less dangerous than previous strains.

There have been nearly 48,000 confirmed cases of mpox globally in 2025, and 2,500 in the past month, with most occurring in central Africa.

Dr Boghuma Titanji, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University, said the new strain is what experts feared would happen if mpox continued to spread worldwide.

“The more mpox circulation we permit, the more opportunities the virus has to recombine and adapt, further entrenching mpox virus as a human pathogen that is not going away,” she said.

Mpox can be a unpleasant illness.

Common symptoms are lesions or a skin rash, which can last for two to four weeks, plus fever, headaches, back pain, muscle aches and tiredness.

The virus spreads from person to person through close physical contact, coughs or sneezes and touching infected clothing, bedding or towels.

UK Health officials say anyone who thinks they might have mpox, should contact NHS 111 for advice on what to do.

[BBC]

Latest News

Powerful earthquake strikes off Japan, triggers tsunami warning

Published

2 hours ago

2025/12/8

Priyan

A tsunami warning is displayed on a television in Yokohama A tsunami warning is displayed on a television in Yokohama, near Tokyo [Aljazeera]

A powerful earthquake has struck off Japan’s coast, triggering a tsunami alert, according to local media reports.

An initial report by Japan’s Meteorological Agency put the magnitude of the quake on Monday at 7.2.

It said the earthquake struck off the coast of Aomori and Hokkaido, adding that a tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast

Latest News

Thousands flee Thai-Cambodia border after deadly clashes

Published

3 hours ago

2025/12/8

Priyan

Residents living at the border evacuated the area as fresh clashes erupted on Monday [BBC]

Residents on both sides of Thailand’s and Cambodia’s border evacuated in droves on Monday as fresh clashes erupted, killing at least five people.

Both sides have each accused the other of starting the violence, which is the most serious confrontation between the two countries since they agreed to a ceasefire in July.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says his country “never wanted violence” but will “use necessary means to preserve its sovereignty”, while Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen accused Thai “invaders” of provoking retaliation.

Since May, escalating tensions between the neighbours have led to more than 40 deaths, as well as import bans and travel restrictions.

On Monday, the Thai army said its troops had responded to Cambodian fire in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani Province, including by launching air strikes along the disputed border; while Phnom Penh’s defence ministry said it was the Thai forces that attacked first, in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

At least one Thai soldier and four Cambodian civilians have been killed, and about a dozen wounded as a result of Monday’s fighting, according to officials on either side.

For Thai teacher Siksaka Pongsuwan, though, there are other, hidden victims of the clashes: the children living near the border, he warns, are “losing opportunities and… precious time” compared to their peers living in relatively peaceful cities.

Nearly 650 schools across five Thai provinces have been ordered to shut for safety reasons, Thailand’s education minister said, following the fresh tensions that have simmered since Sunday.

Meanwhile, videos on social media show chaotic scenes at schools in Cambodia’s border provinces as parents rushed to take their children home.

And this is not the first time these children have had their education interrupted in recent months.

Siksaka Pongsuwan Siksaka Pongsuwan says he and his neighbours on the Thai side of the border are torn about whether to evacuate — *Siksaka Pongsuwan says he and his neighbours on the Thai side of the border are torn about whether to evacuate [BBC]*

In July, in the midst of the children’s examinations, five days of intense fighting broke out between the two nations.

In the aftermath, Pongsuwan’s school switched to online classes, but not all students could access them – some lived in households with no internet, while iPads distributed by the schools did not reach everyone.

In Cambodia, former journalist Mech Dara shared several clips of children frantically running out of their schools on his X account.

“How many times [do these] kids have to suffer the shocking environment?” he wrote. “The nonsense fighting bring kids [a] horrible nightmare.”

He also shared a picture of a boy, still in his school uniform, having some food in an underground bunker. “Why does the kid and his family have to eat their meal in the bunker…?” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Pongsuwan told the BBC that he and his neighbours are now torn about whether to evacuate – even as gunfire can be heard every now and then in his village.

“If you ask whether we’re scared, yes we are… Should we leave? Will it really be safer? Or should we stay?” he tells the BBC.

*Where the latest clashes have broken out [BBC]*

A century-old dispute, reignited

The century-old border dispute between the South East Asian nations dramatically escalated with a Cambodian rocket barrage into Thailand on the morning of 24 July, followed by Thai air strikes.

Days later, Bangkok and Phnom Penh agreed to an ‘immediate and unconditional ceasefire’ brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

In October, both sides signed a ceasefire agreement during a ceremony with US President Donald Trump in Malaysia. At the time, Trump claimed a historic achievement in ending the border conflict.

But just two weeks after that signing, Thailand said it would suspend the implementation of the agreement, after two of its soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion near the Cambodian border.

Cambodia, which nominated Trump for a Nobel peace prize for his role in brokering the ceasefire, has repeatedly claimed it is committed to the deal.

Thailand and Cambodia have been contesting territorial sovereignty along their 800km land border for more than a century, since the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.

[BBC]