“Certainly Better Than Punjab”: England Star Explains Why PBKS To RCB Switch Is Better For Him




England all-rounder Liam Livingstone found a new home in the form of Royal Challengers Bengaluru after the franchise roped him in at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction for Rs. 8.75 crore. Livingstone came into the auction after being released by the Punjab Kings. A total of 4 franchises bid for the England batter but the Bengaluru side eventually won the race. After completing his switch from PBKS to RCB, Livingstone had a rather blunt statement, saying the he expects himself to deliver much better in Bengaluru than he did in Punjab.

Livingstone had a topsy-turvy time in Punjab Kings. In three seasons he spent with PBKS, the England all-rounder scored 437, 279, and 111 runs respectively. He feels a move to Bengaluru will send his career on a positive roll considering the dimension of the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

“The fan base is very passionate. It’s probably one of the biggest franchises in IPL… It’s a bit of a fresh start for me,” Livingstone told Reuters.

“I think Bangalore is going to be very good for my game. It’s a little bit smaller than some of the stadiums in India, certainly better than what Punjab was for me. Hopefully, my game should suit that place well.”

Livingstone also spoke well of RCB’s work in the IPL mega auction that saw the team rope in some top players like Jitesh Sharma, Phil Salt, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, etc.

“I think we had a really good auction. We’ve got some good players, we picked up quite cleverly,” he said.

Livingstone is also quite excited about sharing the dressing room with Virat Kohli.

“There’s a few people in that team I know really well, so I’m pretty excited to get out there as a group. Playing with the likes of Virat is going to be really cool,” he said.

“I enjoyed captaining my country, it’s a very proud moment for anybody to do that … thankfully I’m fit at the moment and it’s great playing something that we love.”

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