Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally broke their long standing drought and clinched their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy by defeating Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’, over the years, RCB fans have sung the chant not only during match days but every possible venue – be it in a football stadium, movie theatre or in any sporting event for that matter.
All they ever wanted was to see the franchise lift an IPL title. The prophecy finally met destiny after 18 years as RCB clinched their maiden IPL trophy.
RCB have played three finals before the IPL 2025 edition, and in all those games, they have come close but failed to get over the line. In Ahmedabad, the script looked to be the same, but the Rajat Patidar-led side modified it and produced a classic comeback story. Batting first, things seemed to be under control with 55 runs in the powerplay, but things changed drastically.
Star batter Virat Kohli, who had a phenomenal season with the bat, scored only 43 runs off 35 balls and that invited immense criticism. However, Jitesh Sharma managed to release the pressure with a flamboyant knock of 24 runs off 10 balls.
Romario Shepherd played a cameo of 17 runs as RCB posted 190 runs in the first innings. At one point, 210 looked gettable but RCB failed to capitalise as Arshdeep Singh picked up three wickets in the final over.
When it came to the chase, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh had a poor start. They got the runs that were required in the powerplay, but once RCB introduced the spinners, PBKS struggled and eventually suffered. None of their batters showed character, something that Jitesh and Shepherd managed to do.
RCB bowlers were always under the scanner and have been blamed several times over the years but it was them who rose to the occasion in 2025 and won them the title.
Punjab Kings got off to a steady start with Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya looking in good touch. But Phil Salt pulled out a blinder to send back Arya while Krunal Pandya bowled a tight spell snapping up Prabhsimran and Josh Inglis.
Captain Iyer suffered a rare failure when he was out for 1 as Romario Shepherd accounted for him. Shashank Singh tried with all his might but PBKS ultimately fell short of the mark as their wait for their first title continued. Punjab Kings bowlers did more than a decent job to restrict RCB to a below par 190 for 9 in the IPL final.
For RCB, Virat Kohli top-scored with 43 off 35 balls while skipper Rajat Patidar couldn’t build on a good start managing 26 off 16 balls. For Punjab Kings, Yuzvendra Chahal was brilliant with figures of 1/37 in 4 overs while Kyle Jamieson had figures of 3 for 48.
