IPL Final Gives Virat Kohli Royal Challenge To Deliver Missing Crown
AHMEDABAD, INDIA - JUNE 2: Rajat Patidar of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (L) and Shreyas Iyer of ... More Punjab Kings (R) during the 2025 IPL Final match Captain's Photocall at Narendra Modi Stadium on June 2, 2025, in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/)
India cricket's Test team has taken the idiom 'out with the old and in with the new' seriously after the recent retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. When Kohli walks on to the field at the Indian Premier League final on Tuesday, it will be the fourth time he has had a crack at winning the richest cricket tournament in the world. He was a callow 20-year-old as Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Deccan Chargers. Further defeats followed in 2011 and 2016.
RCB's opponents, Punjab Kings, have never won the competition either, losing their solitary final in 2014. There will be a new name etched on the trophy and the sentimentalists out there would be pushing for Kohli, who deserves the best man speech rather than being the bridesmaid again.
Kohli has suffered enough in the national shirt with India falling short in multiple white-ball finals before capturing the World T20 and Champions Trophy titles in the last nine months. Maybe it's time to break the hoodoo that has built up over 18 years in the IPL.
Punjab Kings will be waiting for RCB under the superb leadership of Shreyas Iyer. The all-rounder has been overlooked in the Indian red-ball squad for June's tour of England, but Robin Uthappa claimed that his skills would be seen again in both colored and white shirts. 'I've said this time and again and I'll say it AGAIN!! Iyer will captain India in multiple formats!! He has to!! He's that good!!,' said the former batsman-keeper.
Iyer has a calm and controlled mindset that was in full view in the qualifier when hitting 87 off 41 balls to steer Punjab past the Mumbai Indians and into the showdown at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The skipper hit nine sixes and five fours and is making that $3.18 million purchase in the IPL auction back in November look like a smart piece of business.
Punjab coach Ricky Ponting was instrumental in capturing Shreyas having also worked with him at Delhi Capitals. After captaining Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders in two previous finals, the 30-year-old knows all about the big pressures under different franchises.
Kohli stepped back from the captaincy of RCB in 2021 and has become the first batsman to cross 600 runs five times in the latest edition of the competition. The master's journey is wildly different from Iyer's as he has stuck with the same team through thick and thin from day one. The 36-year-old has compiled an ODI-like run aggregate of over 8600 runs in the IPL. If anyone deserves a title through dedication, loyalty and putting it all out there for the best part of two decades, it is Kohli.
Top-level sport doesn't work to please sentiment though. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have won all seven of their away matches, including victory over Punjab twice, most recently in a total annihilation at Chandigarh in Qualifier 1. RCB's strength is that they are not reliant on a world-class figurehead or two.
Their man of the match stars have come from all corners of the team. Phil Salt, England's failed white-ball star, has found a new lease of life with Kohli at the top of the order while Australian quick Josh Hazlewood has over 20 wickets. Tim David has hit some big sixes at the death, but might not be fit enough. Liam Livingstone doesn't have the same eye for the ballpark blast range.
TOPSHOT - Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League ... More (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 22, 2025. (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
As for PBKS, Iyer matches up well with Kohli's 600 plus runs and the other stars have shone when needed. Prabhsimran Singh has scored four 50s, including a stellar 91 against Lucknow while fellow opening young gun Priyansh Arya scored a 100 off 39 balls against Chennai Super Kings. Josh Inglis has shown his handiwork behind and in front of the stumps and he will be flying to England (as will Hazlewood) for the World Test Championship final on June 11.
The 18th IPL has certainly had its moments despite being overshadowed by the political tensions between Pakistan and India which prevented an original finish date of May 25.
Kohli won't be seen at Headingley on June 20, but he will be hoping that true loyalty pays off at Ahmedabad, the scene of the national team's World Cup final misery in the in 2023. This time, the 100,000 or so spectators will enjoy their own stars competing against each other with a dose of international stardust.
If the match is anything like the 2023 IPL final at the same venue - which went to the final ball - then it will be some way to herald a competition now valued at £12 billion. Brand Kohli will rise to the occasion and in value if RCB pull it off a the fourth attempt.
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