On Tuesday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru became the winners of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They got the better of Punjab Kings in the final, which was a clash between two teams who had never previously lifted the trophy. The defeated finalists had also missed out on the final back in 2014, when they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, overall, their performances over the years have been poor and they have rarely made the play-offs. That contrasts quite markedly with RCB, who had made the final on three previous occasions, as well as finishing third twice, fourth last year and making the play-offs a further three times. From a historical perspective, one might argue that RCB deserved to win, and these two were certainly worthy finalists, having finished level at the top on 19 points during the league stage of the competition (Punjab Kings edged first place on net run rate, though only by 0.071!).
It is also worth noting that RCB got the better of Punjab Kings in the league phase. Back in April, and on the Kings’ home ground in Mohali, they won with relative ease. Batting first, the hosts made just 157/6 and it never looked like being enough. A brilliant unbeaten 73 (from 54 balls) from Virat Kohli made sure that it wasn’t and the away side won by seven wickets with more than an over to spare.
Regular Season and Play-offs
As said, the two finalists finished the league campaign first and second. Both teams won nine of their 14 games, as did third-placed Gujarat, though the two table-toppers lost four rather than five games, with one no result. Mumbai Indians accrued 16 points, two fewer than the Titans and finished fourth, one clear of Delhi Capitals who just missed out on the play-offs.
| Pos. | Team | Played | W | L | Points | Net Run Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punjab Kings | 14 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 0.372 |
| 2 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 14 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 0.301 |
| 3 | Gujarat Titans | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 0.254 |
| 4 | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 1.142 |
| 5 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 0.011 |
| 6 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −0.241 |
| 7 | Lucknow Super Giants | 14 | 6 | 8 | 12 | −0.376 |
| 8 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 14 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −0.305 |
| 9 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 4 | 10 | 8 | −0.549 |
| 10 | Chennai Super Kings | 14 | 4 | 10 | 8 | −0.647 |
The play-off format used in the IPL meant that the top two met with the winner going straight through to the final. As the top-ranked team, the Kings had home advantage but, striking another psychological blow, it was RCB that again came out on top.
The visitors again won the toss, again opted to field and again restricted the hosts to a sub-par total. This time, in fact, they bowled them out for a mere 101 runs inside 15 overs, with only three batters reaching double figures. Any hope of a sensational defence of that meagre total was quickly extinguished as England’s Phil Salt set about the Kings’ bowling attack. He finished on 56 not out from only 27 balls, helping his side to an eight-wicket win with exactly half their overs spare.
Is this finally the year? Virat Kohli and RCB are through to the 2025 IPL final 🚨 pic.twitter.com/avBykBvFw4
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 29, 2025
They progressed to the final while the Kings had to play again, facing the winner of the eliminator. Mumbai Indians won a high-scoring game against Gujarat but against the Kings they fell short. 203/6 was a solid first-innings score at the Narendra Modi Stadium but a brilliant 87 not out from 41 balls by Shreyas Iyer helped the Kings home with an over and five wickets in hand.
Kohli and RCB Finally Taste Glory
IPL finals have typically not been high-scoring, with the pressure of the occasion often making things difficult for batters. The 2025 final, however, saw 374 runs in total, one of the higher aggregates and far more than KKR and Sunrisers managed last year (227, the lowest ever). It was a fine game too, between two franchises both seeking a first title and who had proved themselves the best two teams in the competition this year.
| Team | Runs | Wickets | Overs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 190 | 9 | 20 |
| Punjab Kings | 184 | 7 | 20 |
It was third time lucky for Punjab Kings when it came to the toss and they must have thought that would be a good omen. They won and elected to field but their opponents made a strong start, despite the early loss of Salt for just 16. Kohli top scored with 43 but it was a real team effort, with Salt’s score the lowest of the top seven. Numbers three, four, five (Liam Livingstone) and six made 24, 26, 25 and 24 from 18, 16, 15 and just 10 balls respectively and helped RCB to 190/9. Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson took three wickets apiece but were expensive, the former’s strikes all coming in the final over, and it looked like it was advantage to the side formerly known as Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In order to win, the Kings would have to mount a record run chase for an IPL final and they started well enough. At 72/1 from 8.2 overs, they would have thought they could go on to win but in what was an excellent all-round team bowling effort, Krunal Pandya stood out and took the game away from the chasing side.
His four overs cost just 17 runs and brought two wickets. Those were Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglish, who had been looking very dangerous and made 39 from 23 balls. The Kings slumped to 98/4 in the 13th over and with their talisman Shreyas out for just one, they looked down and out.
Shashank Singh helped the Punjab Kings rebuild and he ended with a brilliant 61 from 30 balls. However, 22 of those runs were struck off the last four balls of the match and so they made the game look a little tighter than it really was. They had needed 42 from the final two overs and 29 from the last six balls, so it was relatively comfortable for Kohli and RCB.
History Made
Kohli is the leading runscorer in IPL history and he is the only player to have played every single season of the competition for the same side. He had twice won the Orange Cap for being the leading scorer but it hadn’t been enough and neither he, nor RCB, had managed to claim glory.
That changed this year and it was a brilliant moment for one of India’s greatest-ever batsmen. Kohli said:
“I never thought this day would come,” and added “This means so much to me… To have finally won the IPL is an amazing feeling.” He said that he had given “my youth, my prime, my experience” to the team and there are surely few who can begrudge him finally getting his hands on the trophy.
There was no Orange Cap in 2025 but he was the third-highest scorer, with 657 runs, and he also made the most 50s (eight). Salt had a good campaign too, scoring over 400 runs, but it was probably the team’s bowlers that were most important. They had three inside the top 10 for wickets taken, with Aussie Josh Hazlewood leading the way for them with 22 (third overall).
Pandya took 17 overall and became the first player to win the Player of the Match award twice in IPL finals, having claimed that honour in 2017 with Mumbai Indians. But this was a real team effort and after the win, Kohli was joined by former franchise icons Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers on the podium. Despite amazing individual efforts down the years for RCB they had never lifted the trophy but the three held it aloft together on a special night.