Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that toning down their famous slogan helped the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally win the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy. RCB defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the IPL 2025 final, ending an 18-year wait for a title. In previous seasons, RCB’s slogan “Ee sala cup namde” (This year the cup is ours) was everywhere. This year, though, both the players and fans kept it low-key, and Gavaskar thinks this made a big difference, easing some pressure off the team.
“This year, the slogan wasn’t as loud and it seemed to work in our favor. It almost felt like it had become a jinx before, and toning it down helped the team,” Gavaskar told India Today.
He also praised RCB for their recent performances, especially their last few games against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Punjab Kings. “Congrats to RCB—they’ve played great cricket throughout the IPL. Their last few games were top-notch: chasing down over 230 against LSG, crushing Punjab in Qualifier 1 in just 14 overs, and holding their nerves in the final even though they were slightly short on runs,” he added.
In the final, RCB batted first and scored 190/9 in 20 overs, with Virat Kohli leading the way with 43 runs off 35 balls. Jitesh Sharma also made a quick contribution with 24 runs off just 10 balls. Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson each took three wickets for Punjab. In response, PBKS managed 184/7, with Shashank Singh’s heroic innings of 61 not out off 30 balls falling short. Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each took two wickets for RCB, with Krunal named Player of the Match.
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