The Wait Ends for RCB: Kohli’s #18 Jersey Shines After 18 Years. 2025 IPL Champion is Royal Challenger Bengaluru.
IPL 2025 Final: A New Champion Rises
After 18 long years of anticipation, heartbreaks, and near-misses, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finally lifted their maiden IPL trophy. In Season 18 of the Indian Premier League, RCB triumphed in a thrilling final against Punjab Kings, putting an end to a wait that stretched back to the league’s inception.
RCB, who had previously reached the finals three times, finally crossed the finish line. For Punjab Kings, it was only their second appearance in an IPL final.
Punjab Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first. RCB’s innings got off to a shaky start as Phil Salt was dismissed in the second over. However, Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal steadied the ship, taking the score to 56 before Agarwal fell. Rajat Patidar then joined Kohli and pushed the total to 96 by the 11th over. Punjab clawed back into the game with timely wickets, and a tight final over from Arshdeep Singh ensured RCB finished with 190/8 in 20 overs—a competitive but slightly below-par score in today’s T20 context.
RCB restricts Punjab Kings to 184
Chasing 191 for glory, Punjab got off to a fiery start, scoring 43 runs in just 5 overs before Priyansh was dismissed. Prabhsimran Singh and Venkatesh Iyer followed quickly, as the pressure of the final seemed to affect the Punjab batters. Josh Inglis fought hard, but after his departure, it was down to Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh to pull off the chase. Shashank’s valiant 61 off 30 balls gave Punjab hope, but the team ultimately fell just 6 runs short.
RCB’s Krunal Pandya was instrumental with the ball, claiming two crucial wickets at key moments. He was declared Player of the Match.
In the end, it was a night to remember for RCB fans. Eighteen years after the journey began, and fittingly in IPL Season 18, RCB were crowned champions. Rajat Patidar, who captained the side in the final, lifted the trophy, while Virat Kohli—RCB’s iconic No. 18—finally fulfilled his dream.
A new chapter begins, and the legend of Kohli’s #18 jersey has a golden ending.
| Match No-74- Final | ||||
| Narendra Modi | 03 June 25 | Toss- PBKS | ||
| RCB | PBKS | RCB won by 6 runs | ||
| 190/9(20) | 184/7(20) | |||
| V Kohli-43(35) R Patidar-26(16) Livingstone-25(15) | Arshdeep-3/40(4) K Jamieson-3/48 V Kumar-1/30(4) | Shashank- 61(30) J Inglis-39(23) Prabhsimran-26(22) | K Pandya-2/17(4) B Kumar-2/38(4) Y Dayal-1/18(3) | POTM- Krunal Pandya 2 wickets for 17runs from 4 over. |
Sai Sudharsan with 759runs gets the Orange Cap and Surya followed and Kohli again had 600 plus score.
| ORANGE CAP- IPL 2025 | |||||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | Avg | SR | HS | Remarks |
| 1 | Sai Sudharsan | GT | 759 | 54.21 | 155 | 108* | |
| 2 | Surya Kumar Yadav | MI | 717 | 65.18 | 167 | 73* | |
| 3 | Virat Kohli | RCB | 657 | 54.75 | 144 | 73* | |
| 4 | Shubman Gill | GT | 650 | 50.00 | 156 | 93* | |
| 4 | Mitchell Marsh | LSG | 627 | 48.23 | 161 | 117 | |
Prasidh Krishan with 25 wickets on the top to get Purple cap. Noor Ahmed always at the top 2 . Hazlewood follwed at 3rd place with Boult and Arshdeep at 4th and 5th place
| PURPLE CAP-IPL 2025 | ||||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Wicket | Best | Econ | Remarks |
| 1 | Prasidh Krishna | GT | 25 | 4/41 | 8.27 | |
| 2 | Noor Ahmed | CSK | 24 | 4/18 | 8.16 | |
| 4 | Jos Hazlewood | RCB | 22 | 4/33 | 8.77 | |
| 3 | Trent Boult | MI | 22 | 4/26 | 8.96 | |
| 5 | Arshdeep Singh | PBKS | 21 | 3/16 | 8.88 | |
Here are Awards distributed after completion of Season 18 of IPL tournament.
Sai Sudharsan Emerging Player of the tournament.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi , striker of the tournament
Sai Sudharsan King of the season
Nicholas Pooran for maximum Sixes
Sai Sudharsan for maximum Fours
Md Siraj for maximum Dot balls
Kamindu Mendis for the best Catch of the season
Chennai Super Kings for Fair Play Awards
Prasidh Krishna to get hold of Purple Cap with 25 wickets.
Sai Sudharasan to get Orange Cap for 759 runs.
Surya Kumar Yadav for Most Valuable Player of the season