Royal Challengers Bengaluru talisman Virat Kohli failed to convert his measured knock into a half-century, getting dismissed for 43 runs off 35 balls in the Indian Premier League 2025 final against Punjab Kings on Tuesday (June 3). Kohli was dismissed by Azmatullah Omarzai in the 15th over in Ahmedabad to leave RCB four down and their run rate below nine on a batting-friendly track at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Kohli began sluggishly and hit just one boundary in the first nine overs. His circumspect start perhaps piled pressure on the other batters like captain Rajat Patidar and Mayank Agarwal. With his strike rate under 130, the former India captain needed to get a move on but perished in the process, top-edging a pull which the bowler Omarzai caught himself, running back towards midwicket.
The RCB veteran's last 50 in an IPL playoff came back in 2016, in the final. Nevertheless, he rewrote the league's history books, overtaking Shikhar Dhawan (768) to become the batter with the most overall fours (771). Kohli also became the most prolific scorer against Punjab with 1,159 runs in 36 games. He overtook Australian legend David Warner, who had amassed 1134 runs in 26 innings.
Earlier, PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and put Rajat Patidar's men in to bat.
RCB Vs PBKS, IPL 2025 Final: Playing XIs
Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
The IPL 2025 final pits two sides chasing long-awaited glory against each other. For RCB, it바카라™s a fourth appearance in the final and perhaps their best shot yet at shedding the 바카라śnearly men바카라ť tag. Led by the composed Patidar, they바카라™ve found form when it mattered most, peaking with an emphatic eight-wicket win over PBKS in Qualifier 1.
Punjab, meanwhile, bounced back in style in Qualifier 2, riding on Iyer바카라™s sublime 87 not out to reach their first final since 2014. While RCB are spurred on by the hope of finally delivering a trophy to Kohli, PBKS carry the weight of a legacy yet to be defined. This isn바카라™t just a match 바카라” it바카라™s a battle for redemption, belief, and the breaking of old curses.
