IPL 2025 final: Tempo questionable, but Virat Kohli assessed the conditions right

During the innings break, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru finishing on 190/9 and Virat Kohli scoring 43 off 35 balls, it felt like the former RCB captain had thrown his team under the bus. A strike-rate of 122.85 in an IPL final opening the innings could have been a recipe for disaster. But Punjab Kings spectacularly bottled the chase and as Kohli finally laid his hands on the trophy, nobody was questioning his approach. In hindsight, it felt like he sussed out the conditions better than the rest.

The final was played on a mixed-soil pitch, and it wasn’t a belter. Far from it. Going into the title showdown, pitches at Narendra Modi Stadium had aided free-flowing batting. The surface for the final was different. It had a tennis-ball bounce. The slower bouncers were sticking in the deck. It was a pitch where the bowlers were happy taking pace off the ball. Also, PBKS bowlers, especially Kyle Jamieson, showed good discipline.

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When Phil Salt perished in the second over, fans expected Kohli to take up the role of an enforcer. The veteran, though, was happy to play at his own pace. RCB scored 55/1 in the Powerplay, with Kohli batting on 13 off 10 balls. After 10 overs, they reached 87/2 – the opener batting on 27 off 21 deliveries. At that point, it felt like an ODI knock and offered a throwback to the 2023 World Cup final, when, at the same venue, his slow burn, along with KL Rahul’s, had taken the momentum away from India’s batting. Kohli, though, knew what he was doing. His innings had a pretty similar tempo to his match-winning 76 off 59 balls in the T20 World Cup final last year. This time, though, he lacked the big finish. RCB’s talisman, however, stayed there until the 15th over and held the innings together.