Yes Bengaluru, The Cup is Home!

Ahmedabad: The sea of red chanting, cheering, and rooting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday night finally got to celebrate an IPL trophy. In what turned out to be a damp squib of a final, the ‘Do It For Virat’ slogan, as suggested by RCB skipper Rajat Patidar, worked as his side lifted the elusive maiden IPL trophy, ending an 18-year wait. Sadly, for Punjab Kings, this was a night of misery as Shreyas Iyer could not produce the same magic he had shown for KKR last year, when they won the trophy in Chennai. For RCB to win by six runs was defining in many ways. Success has many fathers and failure none. For those who felt Virat Kohli, as the RCB opener, had batted slowly, in the end, his knock of 43 off 35 balls turned out to be decisive. This looked like an easy pitch to bat on, but Kohli was ready to cut risk for presence at the crease. What was more important, he stayed at the crease and ensured RCB could get to 190 runs. In response, Punjab Kings scored 184 runs in 20 overs. To have wickets in hand and fail — this was poor stuff.

It was a riot of colour and celebrations at the Narendra Modi Stadium from evening. Hours before the final, the RCB gang of supporters had laid siege. Chanting, singing outside and then packing the stands inside, they were a vocal lot. Such passion from the fans is what fires up a side where Patidar was leading for the first time. As a debutant skipper, for him to lift the trophy was defining, where the RCB bowlers came up with brilliant stuff — a mix of pace and spin. To be sure, the top order for Punjab Kings, well served by Priyansh Arya (24) and Prabhsimran Singh (26), had done the groundwork as they put on 43 runs for the first wicket. But then, the RCB bowlers started tightening the screws, where the inspirational Josh Hazlewood, the Aussie right-arm medium pacer, fired in deliveries which were hard to handle. He was a bit unlucky, as there was a catch dropped early on. Perhaps what was out of syllabus for Punjab Kings was the bowling from Krunal Pandya. Underrated, the 33-year-old brother of Hardik Pandya came up with spectacular left-arm spin to choke Punjab. A lot in this IPL had been riding on the efforts of Shreyas Iyer for Punjab Kings. Once Romario Shepherd got his wicket for 1 run, the spirit of Punjab sank. The Sardars who had come to cheer the Punjab Kings felt miserable, even as the RCB tempo reached a crescendo.

In terms of handling the pressure on the big stage, RCB have peaked multiple times in IPL 2025. One must not forget, RCB had whacked Punjab Kings in their own den in Mullanpur last week and raced into the final. If that was seen as an aberration, what RCB did on Tuesday night was finite proof they were on a mission. It’s been a long wait to win this IPL final. Imagine, a side with the inspirational Virat Kohli had to wait so long. His commitment to the RCB side has been par excellence, and the way he fires up the side even today has to be seen to be believed. He is a team man to the core and has helped shape the RCB side with Rajat Patidar as captain. Patidar may have fallen cheaply, but his leadership was worth a lot as he marshalled the side adroitly. Imagine, to be captain of the RCB side for the first time and win something so big — he deserves all credit. Planning in the RCB side has been phenomenal. It began at the end of the 2024 season itself, when Dinesh Karthik retired. For the players to come together and perform — this was class and character. They did everything with a methodical approach. Of course, for sheer guts and tenacity, the lesser-known Pandya — Krunal — preyed on the mind of the Punjab batters. His rich experience was defining as he finished with an analysis of 4-0-17-2. For hordes of RCB fans inside the stadium and all over the world, the long wait was worth it. They are a passionate lot, and their catchword in Kannada, “Ee Sala Cup Namde,” has clicked. The party has begun in Ahmedabad, a dry state, and ran wild into the pubs in Bengaluru. Call it a fairy tale win or handling the big stage pressure better — RCB came out tops. Indeed, this IPL has been a gruelling one, after it began on March 22. RCB showed that to be on top for a major part of the season and climax in the last two matches — this was awesome.