RCB Lifts ‘VIRAT’ IPL 2025 TROPHY

 

 To finally have the IPL title is an unbelievable feeling: Virat Kohli

‘We have been a highly entertaining cricket team to watch,’ Ricky Ponting lauds Punjab Kings team despite final loss to RCB

Khel Today Bureau

Ahmedabad: Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifted ‘Virat’ IPL 2025 trophy and ended 18 years of drought. In the final of Indian Premier League RCB defeated Punjab Kings by 6 runs at Narendra Modi Stadium. After electing to bowl, PBKS restricted the opposition to 190/9 in 20 overs on a solid batting track, with both Arshdeep SIngh and Kyle Jamieson picking up three wickets each.

Despite the top order Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh proving the Kings a good start up the top order in the chase, the middle-order could not capitalise on the momentum and Punjab fell short of the target by just six runs. Shashank Singh played a heroic knock in the end, scoring an unbeaten 61 off 30 balls in the final, but was unable to take his side home.

After the historic win Virat Kohli said, “This win is as much for the fans as it is for the team. It has been 18 long years. I’ve given this team my youth, prime and experience. I’ve tried to win it every season, and I gave it everything I have. To finally have the IPL title is an unbelievable feeling. I never thought this day would come, I was overcome with emotion after the last ball was bowled.”

RCB Captain Rajat Patidar said, “I think it is really special for me and special for Virat Kohli and all the fans. Those who have supported from years, so I think they all deserve it. You had a very consistent season, but when did it actually cross your mind that you have a chance of actually winning the trophy? At what stage of the IPL? I think you are talking about this game.

Which stage did you think that you can actually win the IPL?

Rajat: I think after the qualifier 1. At that time we thought that we can do well this season.

And when you were restricted to 190, you thought that was par for the course or you thought you needed some more runs?

Rajat: I think 190 score was good on this track because it was a bit slow and the way bowler executed their plans, that was tremendous to watch. Inspiring move to give Krunal Pandey the ball at that stage and he did a fabulous job. What a spell from him. 4 overs, 2 for 17. Of course, he is a wicket-winning bowler.

Whenever I come under pressure, I look where is KP. So, I had a lot of belief in him. With KP, I think Suyash also bowled really well throughout the season and all the bowlers, fast bowler, Bhuvi, Yash, Hazlewood.

And the way Romario came in and the way he gave 2-3 overs and that breakthrough, I think that was really special.

You mentioned Virat Kohli, 18 years with the same franchise and under your captaincy wins it now.

Rajat: For me, it’s a great opportunity to do captaincy under him and it was a great learning for me. And as I said, I think he deserves more than anyone else who has supported everyone, the management, support staff, coaching staff. I think the way they have supported every player, I think that was beautiful.

Player of the Match, Krunal Pandya said, “When we were playing the first innings I had this feeling that the slower you bowl the better it will be. But you need guts to do that in this format. I just backed myself, thought I’ll vary my pace and keep it on the slower side more often. My biggest strength has been to learn what the situation requires. I knew I had to be brave to get wickets tonight. Thought I’d do that by bowling slow. If you’d have bowled quick, it’d have been a good wicket. But if you mixed it up it was tougher. Pitch actually got easier in the second innings. Have enjoyed my time with RCB so far, I said on day one I wanted to win. I told Hardik that the Pandya household will have nine trophies in 11 years.”

Virat Kohli on finally winning the IPL title: “I’ve given this team my youth, my prime and my experience, and I’ve tried to win this every season and I give it everything I have. To finally have this moment come, it’s an unbelievable feeling. I never thought this day would come. I was overcome with emotions as soon as the last ball was bowled and this means so much to me.”

Virat Kohli on where the title ranks in his career:

“Well, it’s right up there. As I said, I’ve given everything that I had for the last 18 years. I’ve stayed loyal to this team, no matter what, and I always dreamt of winning it with them. And this is far more special than winning it with anyone else because my heart is with Bengaluru, my soul is with Bengaluru. And as I said before, this is the team I’m going to play for till the last day that I play the IPL. So this one is absolutely right up there because, you know, as a sportsman, when you grind for something, and this is a very high intensity, high quality tournament, which is of great value in world cricket today. I’m someone that wants to win the big tournaments, the big moments, and this one was missing. And tonight, I’m going to sleep like a baby.”

Virat Kohli on what continues to drive him as an athlete:

“Well, I have an opportunity to play this game for not many years. So there is an end date to our career, as you know. And by the time that I hang up my boots, I want to sit at home and say I gave it everything I had. So I look for ways to improve. I can’t play as an impact player, I want to field 20 overs and make an impact in the field. That’s the kind of player I have been. And God’s blessed me with that perspective, with the talent. And I’m so very grateful to this victory. So thankful to God for giving it in my lap finally tonight. And I just put my head down, stay humble, and work as hard as I possibly can.”

Virat Kohli on the squad and management behind the title :
“And then you find different ways to help the team. This management, this group of players has been outstanding, to be honest. They’ve gotten the right kind of players, match winners, people who take the game on. In the auction, a lot of people questioned our tactics. But by day two, we were very happy with what we had. And we had a lot of confidence in the strength of this group. I want to give a big shout out to this team. It would not have been possible without each and every one in the squad, in the playing XI, the management backing the players, keeping us positive throughout when the going got tough. So it’s everyone’s. I don’t want to stand here and talk about myself. There’s a lot that’s spoken about me already. This win is for Bangalore. And it’s for each and every one of the players, and the families, and the whole management as well.”

Virat Kohli on the value of Test cricket :
“You know, this moment is right up there with the best moments I’ve had in my career. But it still marks five levels under Test cricket. That’s how much I value Test cricket. And that’s how much I love Test cricket. So I would just urge the youngsters coming through to treat that format with respect. Because if you perform in Test cricket, you walk around anywhere in the world, people look you in the eye and shake your hand and say, well done, you played the game really well. So if you want to earn respect in world cricket all over, take up Test cricket, give your heart and soul to it. And when you walk out with wonders on the other side, then you gain respect in the cricket world with legends like yourself. Melting our hearts on the field and off the field.”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar on how the final played out:

“We knew the wicket will not be easy and 190 would not be easy. It was 10 more than we thought. Krunal Pandya’s spell changed the scenario for us. The change of pace was not easy, but we thought we would not over-use it.”

Josh Hazlewood on the significance of the win:

“I think 190 was a good score, wicket was up and down, it may have gotten better in the second innings. Everyone chipped in. It means everything to Kohli, to be there from the start and get the result tonight will bring out a lot of emotion.”

Dinesh Karthik on the team effort and belief:

“This is a team that’s waited 18 years and has had to wait a long time. ABD, Kohli – they all tried their hearts out, and so did the support staff. We believed from the start that we were good and had all bases covered. It was great that everyone stepped up at different situations. We got to an above-par total tonight; the batters felt it wasn’t easy out there. But the final wasn’t about the pitch – we needed fire in the belly, and we had it. Andy Flower pulled us through the ringer – he’s groomed me. Mo Bobat had a plan and a vision, and it all fell into place. It was an amazing effort from the boys.”

Phil Salt on the magnitude of the moment:

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. I don’t know where I am at the moment. I have not slept. Everywhere we go, we are the most supported team. It’s a big fan base. AB de Villiers is here, Chris Gayle is here. It’s unbelievable. Thank you to the fans for supporting us. They have won more games for us than you think.”

On the other hand despite losing the title, the Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting praised the team efforts in the 18th edition of Indian Premier League. Ponting disagreed with the remarks that the batting track was a slow one and said that his side lost momentum in a crucial spot.

Ponting highlighted how Punjab Kings were an entertaining team throughout the tournament.

“The way that we’ve been able to play our cricket, it’s been a highly entertaining team to watch, and that for a coach to be able to sit back and talk about a team that way gives me a lot of satisfaction. You can probably look at it tonight and say was it probably a little bit of inexperience in the middle order cost us. But what I know is that we are going to have these younger guys (Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera) with us for a long , and I think they’re going to win us a lot of games going forward,” Ponting said at the post-match press conference.

“There’s no excuses from us. Shashank at the end of the game said he thinks that was the best wicket he has batted on for the whole season. We just lost a bit of momentum at a critical time in probably the last couple of overs of the power play and we lost critical wickets,” Ponting said.

It was after a span of 11 years that Punjab had qualified for the playoffs and had reached the IPL final. Looking into the future, Ponting said that his side will continue to grow in the coming years and will make a stronger comeback next season.

“It was only a couple of days that we were here celebrating one of our great wins for the season to get into the final, and today we probably feel that we have let one slip. But with this group being as young as it is, we will be back bigger and stronger next season,” he said.

“I think it’s always easy to make observations from the outside but I made it pretty clear when I was appointed as head coach that I wanted to make sure things were different. I wanted to make sure things were done in a certain way from the top. I wanted to make things different, I wanted to make significant change, and I think we have managed to do that,” he signed off.