IPL 2025: Sunil Gavaskar reveals his favorites to win the title

Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar feels that the Punjab Kings (PBKS) will have a slight disadvantage ahead of their final clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3.

Gavaskar asserted that the Punjab-based franchise will have very little time to recover and lock horns with the Bengaluru franchise in the summit clash. Notably, PBKS defeated MI in Qualifier 2 on Sunday, June 1, by five wickets to advance to the final. 

While PBKS get less than a day to get back to the field after defeating Mumbai Indians by five wickets in Qualifier 2, RCB gets close to a four-day break after defeating PBKS in Qualifier 1 by eight wickets.

“It certainly does help. And for the Punjab Kings, I think also the fact that they just get a day's break before the final and the match also finished so late against Mumbai Indians - that doesn't give too much time for the body to recover. Yes, I know it's a late evening game, it's a 7:30 start, but the body does certainly need a lot of rest after the exertions of the previous day,” Gavaskar told India Today in an interview.

“The Bengaluru team has had four days off, so they will certainly be mentally and physically far more refreshed than the Punjab team when they enter the frame,” he added.

While PBKS played two games at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, RCB hasn’t played a game at this venue this season. Nevertheless, Gavaskar doesn’t feel that it makes a big impact, courtesy of RCB’s impressive form in all departments. 

“Not so much of an advantage. Like I said, I think it's the fact that RCB are coming into the final with a string of absolutely brilliant performances with both bat and ball. So I don't think they'll be daunted by the fact that they haven't played here,” he observed.

“Punjab have, like I said, just 24 hours or so to recover, which is not really enough after the efforts they put in to beat Mumbai Indians,” Gavaskar stated..

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