It has finally happened. After 17 years, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are officially IPL champions. Rajat Patidar and Co defeated Punjab Kings by 6 runs in Ahmedabad to end their long wait for IPL title. It is Virat Kohli’s first IPL win, having lost 3 finals in the past. Kohli himself top-scored for RCB with a measured 43, before the bowlers finished the job to seal a comfortable win.
RCB IPL 2025 Champions: Perfection from start to finish
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings both hit a hard reset ahead of the IPL 2025 Auctions. RCB retained only 3 in Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal before going about their business. mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik, coach Andy Flower and director of cricket Mo Bobat addressed most issues in a tightly picked squad for the tournament.
Patidar as captain excelled, while Virat Kohli continued his IPL run-scoring feats. Phil Salt replicated his performance at KKR, providing RCB with blistering starts. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shouldered the bowling, with Krunal Pandya enjoying a new lease of life in RCB colours.
RCB’s struggles at home continued, but Patidar and Co. aced away grounds. RCB defeated CSK at the Chepauk for the first time since 2008, while winning at the Wankhede after 2015. RCB won all their 7 games away from home in the league stage, and added another scalp with Punjab Kings at Mullanpur in Qualifier 1.
Patidar set the tone, while RCB had several heroes turning up for them through the season. Romario Shepherd smashed the second-fastest fifty in IPL history, while Jacob Bethell filled in for Phil Salt with a half-century. Jitesh Sharma scored a head-turning 85, his first IPL fifty, to guarantee RCB a place in Qualifier 1. In Qualifier 1, Suyash Sharma struck thrice to fold PBKS for 101.
RCB IPL 2025 Champions: Team Effort in Ahmedabad
On Tuesday, all of RCB’s Top 7 scored in double digits, helping them get to 190. Krunal Pandya broke the back of Punjab Kings’ chase with the wickets of Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis. Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Romario all chipped in with wickets at crucial intervals.
More often than not in their history, RCB have relied on Virat Kohli to lead them to glory. For the better part of the 2010s, he had Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers for company. Even as RCB’s holy trinity broke run getting records, the title was always elusive. Come 2025, 18 seasons into the tournament, Kohli finally has a trophy to celebrate. The No.18 on his back feels a lot more special from today.
RCB in IPL 2025
| Match No. | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | KKR | Kolkata | Won by 7 wickets |
| 2 | CSK | Chennai | Won by 50 runs |
| 3 | GT | Bengaluru | Lost by 8 wickets |
| 4 | MI | Mumbai | Won by 12 runs |
| 5 | DC | Bengaluru | Lost by 6 wickets |
| 6 | RR | Jaipur | Won by 9 wickets |
| 7 | PBKS | Bengaluru | Lost by 5 wickets |
| 8 | PBKS | Chandigarh | Won by 7 wickets |
| 9 | RR | Bengaluru | Won by 11 runs |
| 10 | DC | Delhi | Won by 6 wickets |
| 11 | CSK | Bengaluru | Won by 2 runs |
| 12 | KKR | Bengaluru | No Result |
| 13 | SRH | Lucknow | Lost by 42 runs |
| 14 | LSG | Lucknow | Won by 6 wickets |
| Qualifier 1 | PBKS | Mullanpur | Won by 8 wickets |
| Final | PBKS | Ahmedabad | Won by 6 runs |
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