Krunal Pandya had an amazing game in the IPL 2025 final, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru win their first title against Punjab Kings. RCB, led by Rajat Patidar, got off to a rough start. Virat Kohli struggled early on, but in the end, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd stepped up, helping RCB finish their innings with 190 runs.
Punjab chased 203 runs pretty easily against Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator, so many thought they could do the same here, especially playing at the same ground. But RCB’s bowlers came through with a solid performance, clinching the title by just six runs. Krunal was a key player, giving away only 17 runs in four overs and taking two important wickets.
Punjab Kings started their chase well, feeling comfortable after the powerplay, but then Patidar brought in Krunal, and he completely changed the game. He put a lot of pressure on the PBKS players, and they just couldn’t handle it. Because of his standout performance, Krunal was named Player of the Match, marking his second time getting that honor in an IPL final.
After the match, the 34-year-old mentioned he had already told his brother Hardik that RCB would be winning the title. He felt sure about it and said he was thrilled to contribute on such a big night. I told Hardik that the Pandya household will have nine trophies in 11 years. We’ve both put in a lot of effort, and being a part of a night like this is everything to me,” Krunal shared after the game.
He added, “While we were batting, I got the feeling that slower balls would work best. It takes guts to do that in T20 cricket. I just trusted myself and mixed up my pace. If you bowled fast, it was easier to score, but mixing it up made it tough for them. My strength has always been reading the game, and tonight, I knew I had to be bold.”
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