IPL 2025 Final: 5 factors that were decisive in ending an 18-year wait for Virat Kohli and RCB

IPL 2025 Final: 5 factors that were decisive in ending an 18-year wait for Virat Kohli and RCB (BCCI Photo)

RCB vs PBKS, IPL 2025 Final Highlights: An 18-year wait ended for Virat Kohli as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs for their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Chasing a 191-run victory target, PBKS managed 184/7 in their 20 overs.

Here are the five factors that were decisive in ending an 18-year wait for Kohli, who has played for RCB since the inception of IPL, and also wears jersey No. 18:

Virat Kohli top scores in all-important final

Virat Kohli scored 43 off 35 balls in IPL final (AP Photo)

No one was more hyped than Virat Kohli to win the IPL this time around. Playing his fourth IPL final, first since 2016, RCB’s former captain top scored for his team which in the end proved to be decisive. However, Kohli consumed 35 balls to score 43 at a strike rate of 122.86, which featured no sixes and only three boundaries. Kohli was looking to bat through like he usually does in big games but a good running catch Azmatullah Omarzai off his own bowling cut short Kohli's stay in the middle.

Arshdeep Singh’s comeback

Punjab Kings needed their pace spearhead Arshdeep Singh to come good in the big game. But the left-arm pacer conceded 37 runs from his first three overs. With RCB at 187/6, Arshdeep was brought back in the attack to bowl the last over of the innings. Arshdeep conceded a single off the first delivery and on the next ball, trapped Romario Shepherd plumb in front with a stunning, with an outswinging yorker. After conceding another single off the next delivery, Arshdeep had Krunal Pandya caught by Shreyas Iyer to notch his second wicket. Yash Dayal then took a single off the next delivery, following which Arshdeep had Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught by Priyansh Arya on the last ball of the innings to finish with figures reading 4-0-40-3. His efforts helped Punjab restrict RCB to 190/9 in 20 overs.

Punjab openers’ cameos cut short

Phil Salt grabbed a superb catch in IPL 2025 final (BCCI Photo)

Chasing 191, Punjab Kings got off to a fine start with openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh going for their shots from the word go and put up a 43-run stand in 5 overs. Priyansh Arya scored 24 runs off 19 balls, which featured four boundaries, before he lost his wicket to Josh Hazlewood as Phil Salt took a stunning catch under pressure. Salt showed excellent reflexes to catch the ball adjacent to the boundary ropes and then toss the ball to keep it in play upon realising he would cross the boundary. He regained balance by stepping across the rope and quickly returned inside to complete the catch.

Prabhsimran Singh, who was dropped by Romario Shepherd off Hazlewood at 9, smashed two sixes in one over by Suyash Sharma to take PBKS to 70/1 in 8 overs before the strategic timeout. That timeout seemed to break PBKS momentum as Prabhsimran fell to Krunal Pandya after hitting a 22-ball 26.

Shreyas Iyer’s failure:

PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer, who played a match-winning knock against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 to take his team to the final, failed in the all-important day. Shepherd got the prized wicket of the Punjab captain when Iyer edged a wide delivery, which settled inside Jitesh Sharma's gloves. Iyer fell for 1 off 2 deliveries.

Krunal Pandya’s match-winning spell:

Krunal Pandya brought all his experience into play to deliver a match-winning spell for his team. Pandya varied the lengths and pace of his deliveries smartly to keep the Punjab batsmen guessing till the last moment. The result was an excellent and economical spell which also included two important wickets. Pandya first dismissed Prabhsimran and then ended Josh Inglis' lone battle by having him caught by Liam Livingstone near the long-on fence. Pandya finished his spell at 4-0-17-2 as Punjab capitulated in chase of 191.