Latest news with #PrabhsimranSingh
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First Post
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
PBKS' strength turns into weakness as RCB brutally expose their batting in IPL final, beat Iyer and Co to maiden title
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, however, could not care less if Punjab Kings crashed and burned, or if they were slayed by a thousand cuts, as it ultimately panned out, for they now have the key to the door to dreamland. read more Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer's dismissal for just 1 proved to be a major turning point that eventually led to a historic victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL final in Ahmedabad. Reuters Scaling the summit is taxing. The right sort of motivation needs to be found, along with adequate geeing and egging on to ensure track of the goal is not lost. The right tools also need to be identified, and the circumstances analysed. The first step, quite often, may seem the toughest. Just because it is, well, not something you do every day. But once that is traversed, everything feels a little more doable. The peak appears closer, the ground seems farther away, and the entire project feels…achievable with every positive and passing minute. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Then comes a time when all that is left is the final step. A leap to take you to the zenith, and a moment that will be reminisced over proudly. And that is when the doubts start creeping in. Not because the climb has not been fruitful. Or because a lot of it is still left. But because, at that very instant, the thought of coming so close but not getting across the line, begins shrouding the belief-system the entire journey was based on, with the steep, deep and doomsday-like plunge feeling more dangerous than ever. All of which sounds like…the range of emotions the Punjab Kings went through on Tuesday, against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru – a side with with exactly the same demons to defeat, and the same stratospheric ascension to undertake. PBKS flounder in a chase they should have dominated For exactly half of the final, PBKS seemed in control. They contained a powerful RCB batting unit to 190 . It was not a meagre total, but it was the lowest-first innings total in Ahmedabad this season and was, in simpler words, probably below-par. But Punjab, at no stage, felt in charge of the run-chase. This was a chase they should have dominated. Where they should have puffed out their chest, owned the stage and the occasion, and showed that this title, despite years and years of waiting, was only the beginning of a dynasty. Instead, they let it meander. They seemed so afraid and fearful of what might happen if they played it wrong, that they never even came close to playing it right. Just like a relationship, where there is so much worry about it falling apart in the future, that there is a failure to tend to it in the present. It all began with a powerplay where PBKS were too circumspect. Finals do that to teams and batters. And especially uncapped batters. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya, who have been a breath of fresh air throughout the season, suddenly seemed predictable and tamable. Chasing 191, there have been worse scores than 52-1 in the powerplay. But on a track where the shorter deliveries bowled by seamers were tough to hit later in the innings (which PBKS would have known, having done it themselves), that approach, of taking their time, seemed a little counter-intuitive. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD PBKS did not cover themselves in glory after it either. The introduction of Krunal Pandya triggered an enormous slow-down . Singles were tough to get, let alone boundaries and although there were brief flickers of hope, courtesy Josh Inglis, the rest of the batting unit crumbled around him. The required run-rate kept soaring higher than real estate prices in India, and Inglis, inevitably, paid the price for it. Punjab were unable to rotate strike too. RCB, for much of their middle overs, were stuck in second gear, with Virat Kohli struggling to increase the tempo and at times, being happy not to do so too. But RCB still finished with just 28 dot balls. PBKS had 43. Nehal Wadhera, exceptional throughout the campaign, huffed and puffed in particular. And like his teammates, almost always seemed to opt for the wrong scoring options: waiting for pace when the pitch and the RCB bowlers were hell-bent on not offering much. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Romario strikes GOLD! 🤩❤️ Massive moment! Sarpanch Shreyas departs and #RCB would look to get on top from this stage! 💪🏻 Who takes control from here? 👀 LIVE NOW ➡ 👉 #RCBvPBKS on Star Sports Network & JioHotstar — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 3, 2025 It did not help that Shreyas Iyer fell cheaply. Or that Marcus Stoinis, so often a supernatural six-hitter, could only last two balls. But the bare fact remains that Punjab's batting complement, who had a 50 per cent record of scoring 200-plus this season prior to Tuesday, failed when it really, really mattered. And even though these uncapped Indian players, such as Prabhsimran, Priyansh and Wadhera, will be better for the experience, this defeat, when the harder gig seemed to be to lose, will sting. It will sting for a fair while. Despite the spin of an otherwise productive campaign. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD RCB finally conquer the final hurdle after multiple heartbreaks RCB, however, will not mind it one bit. They could not care less if PBKS crashed and burned, or if the Kings were slayed by a thousand cuts, as it ultimately panned out. They now have the key to the door to dreamland. They have been at its doorstep before – in 2009, in 2011 and more famously (and in more heart-breaking fashion) in 2016, and they have finally barged through . Also Read | 'My heart and soul is with Bangalore': Kohli gets emotional after RCB's maiden IPL title And so, wherever you are wearing an RCB jersey, whether it be Indiranagar, Koramangala, Whitefield, or in the vicinity of Brigade Road, Cubbon Park and MG Road, or in any other part of the country, whether you are young, very young, old, very old, or somewhere in the middle, soak it in and soak it in some more. 18 years that had, before Tuesday, only yielded disappointment, hurt, intangibles such as hope and promise, of next season being better, of next year being theirs, has finally thrown up something tangible. RCB won their first-ever IPL trophy on Tuesday night. Image: Reuters The team of their dreams, the team that has occupied a significant chunk of their heart, their psyche and perhaps even their inner self, has made it. And that will give millions and millions of RCB fans even more belief. That if they could go through all of this, and that if their team could go through all of this, and stand atop the summit teams so regularly crave to be atop of, they could, in their separate walks of life, do so too. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And as the dust settles on an evening that could have been Punjab's, and should have been theirs, PBKS will go back to their hotel rooms, hoping and longing that when the next opportunity comes around, it will be them tweaking and dramatically altering those previously-trodden paradigms of false dawns, and so-close-yet-so-far conjectures. But for now, that final step, that last leap and lunge, remains elusive. And that plunge, from a potential crescendo to this nadir of emotions, might have never felt as devastating.
India.com
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
WATCH: Virat Kohli starts crying moment before RCB won their first ever IPL tittle, vide goes viral
WATCH: Virat Kohli starts crying moment before RCB won their first ever IPL tittle New Delhi: After a long wait of 17 years, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finally won their first IPL title. RCB created history by defeating Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the final of IPL 2025. As soon as 29 runs were needed in the last over and the first two balls were dot, Virat Kohli could not hold back his tears. His emotions overflowed and the audience also expressed their happiness with loud celebrations. Won the title for the first time in 18 years This is RCB's first trophy, which they have won in the 18th year of the tournament. Chasing 191 runs, Punjab Kings got off to a good start. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya gave a solid start, but Priyansh's dismissal proved to be a big setback for the team. Wickets fell quickly After this, Prabhsimran, Shreyas Iyer and Josh English also got out in quick succession. The team's run rate kept falling and the rest of the batsmen could not score runs according to the target. In the end, Iyer's team was all out for 184/7 in 20 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya took two wickets each. VIRAT KOHLI STARTED CRYING. — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 3, 2025 Virat Kohli played an important innings Earlier, RCB batted first and scored 190/9. Virat Kohli played an important innings of 43 runs. Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson took three wickets each for Punjab. Virat Kohli got emotional in the last over of the match and was seen crying.
Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
RCB win IPL 2025: Rajat Patidar, the soft-spoken man of steel, who leads RCB to their first ever title
Rajat Patidar shakes his head in amusement when probed about a tactical move he cherishes from the IPL, in a show with RCB Bold Diaries. 'Aise kuch nahin,' he says, trying to shake off the question, before he fishes out favourite moment. 'It was during the second league game against Punjab Kings. Prabhsimran Singh was taking the fast bowlers apart when I thought of bringing a spinner. He was hitting in a flow, and off-pace could disrupt it,' he explained his reasoning. He introduced left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya who immediately got the wicket. The incident offered a peep into Patidar's thought stream. His plans are not grand or elaborate, but simple, practical and designed on the move. 'Half of the work (strategising) is done by our experienced support staff, I just have to take care of the on-field issues,' he says with a self-deprecatory smile that suggests that the weight of the role is not crushing him. And on Tuesday, he led RCB to the promised land, delivering the franchise's first ever IPL trophy. The man on the camera, sitting relaxed on a blazing bindi-red couch is the man of the field too. He has the gift of being visible yet invisible at the same is laid back, yet serious, he is not chatty, but his words are measured and meaningful. On the field, he blends into his teammates, is not camera-conscious, rather escapes the camera without even the cameras realising it, is not ultra expressive, but has expressive eyes but an undemonstrative face. He is not the most vocal person of the field, there is a chorus of experienced hands for making the noise. He largely lets the bowlers choose their field, but conveys his opinions when he feels he has to. He rarely vents out his rage or angst. Even in the most anxious moment he keeps his poise, a trait that has won him praise from coaches and pundits. 'There's a calmness and a simplicity to Rajat,' extolls head coach Andy Flower. Staying grounded is the trait that pleased Dinesh Karthik, RCB's mentor and batting coach. 'He has been the biggest eye-opener for me in life,' Karthik said on the second episode of RCB's Journey to the Finale. 'Because when people suddenly get a little bit of adulation, power, they tend to change… But with Rajat Patidar — what a guy. He has been exactly the same that he was before becoming the captain.' Making him captain was not a desperate or whimsical decision. Flower and Co had watched his style of captaincy in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and detected ample traits in him to lead one of the most popular franchises in the league. 'We really liked what we saw. He's inherently a quiet guy, but observing him, he cares about the people around him. He cares about the people that he plays with, that he shares a dressing room with. And I think that's a quality that means that he will instantly have respect and care from other people, and that, as a leader, those qualities are important in that people will follow you and get behind you. At the same time there is stubbornness and steeliness about him.' The coaches that had moulded him swear on the qualities too. His childhood coach Ram Atre's mind rewinds to the chilly winter mornings of Indore when Patidar would have readied the pitch before the coaches arrived. 'We don't have curators or groundsmen to make the pitch. Usually, the task fell on the freshers to keep the pitch ready before the practice session. But Rajat would do it even after he became a senior player of the club. He was a popular guy, friendly and always talking with a smile on his face. The junior players would flock to him for advice and he would patiently explain to them whatever they had asked for,' he remembers. He had a fierce winning mentality but never pours his anger on his teammates even if they end up on the losing side. 'Of course, he tells them where they have gone wrong, but never puts the blame on others. Rather, he will think deeply about where he has erred and work on it until he gets it corrected. He had the drive from the moment he joined the club. He was six or seven at that time.' he says, before rattling out another anecdote. He points to a six-year old kid who has come to attend the summer camp. 'Rajat was shorter than him and when he first came here, he could not even clear the infield (which is roughly the size of a backyard) of the Dusshera Maidan ground. But he was patient, trained hard and in four-five weeks' time started clearing it with ease,' he narrates. His journey from being snubbed by RCB to captaining them to the final itself is a testament to his patience and a heart of granite. In the mega auction of 2022, the franchise did not retain him. He was disappointed, but he immediately hit the ground running to play local club cricket. 'Each time he suffered a setback, he would make a comeback with double the energy. He wouldn't show his frustration on the ground or during practice, but work quietly, far from everyone's gaze,' says the coach. But as destiny had it, he was recalled towards the end of the season as an injury replacement. He was in two minds as he was certain that he would mostly bench-warm and his wedding was fixed too. In the end, the love for the game won, he postponed the wedding, rejoined RCB and latched onto the break with an unbeaten 112 against Lucknow Super Giants in the eliminator. An ankle injury kept him out of the next season, but RCB retained him, and two years later, he guided them to the final after nine years. When RCB management sounded him about his new role last year, he didn't get overwhelmed but told them that he had captained Madhya Pradesh much, so would go and captain them first before assuming charge of RCB. His heart pounded the first time he walked out for the toss, he told RCB Bold Diaries. 'A lot of questions were passing through my head. Like what I would do with the toss, what if I lose it, about the questions they would ask me. But at the same time I was clear on what I had to do,' he admitted. Two months later, the once-ignored, soft-spoken captain, fulfilled the long unfulfilled dream of RCB with a dream-like narrative of his own.
Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
IPL Final: Royal Challengers Bengaluru win battle of the reds, clinch maiden title
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally broke their longstanding drought and clinched their maiden Indian Premier League trophy by defeating Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the final at Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Punjab Kings got off to a steady start with Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya looking in good touch. But Phil Salt pulled out a blinder to send back Arya while Krunal Pandya bowled a tight spell snapping up Prabhsimran and Josh Inglis. Captain Iyer suffered a rare failure when he was out for 1 as Romario Shepherd accounted for him. Shashank Singh tried with all his might but PBKS ultimately fell short of the mark as their wait for their first title continued. Earlier, Punjab Kings bowlers did more than a decent job to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a below par 190 for 9 in the IPL final. For RCB, Virat Kohli top-scored with 43 off 35 balls while skipper Rajat Patidar couldn't build on a good start managing 26 off 16 balls. For Punjab Kings, Yuzvendra Chahal was brilliant with figures of 1/37 in 4 overs while Kyle Jamieson had the figures of 3 for 48. The prize wicket of Kohli was taken by Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai (1/35). However, the best figures were of India's premier T20 bowler Arshdeep Singh (3/40), who got three wickets in the final over. In the closing ceremony before the match, 'Sabse aage honge Hindustani' and 'Dushman ke chhakke chhudaa de, hum India wale' were among the songs performed as national fervour was the central theme. 'Honouring the Indian armed forces', 'Salute to the armed forces' and 'Thank you armed forces' were the message displayed across the digital boards used for advertising and sharing match-related information near the boundary as well as on the first tier of the world's largest stadium here. Bollywood playback singer Shankar Mahadevan along with his sons Siddharth and Shivam enthralled the near capacity crowd. The songs from war-themed movie Lakshya titled 'Kandhon se milte hai kandhe' and 'Lakshya', 'Ae watan mere aabad rahe tu', 'Vande Mataram' (AR Rahman composed) were among the songs performed with 'sabse aage honge Hindustani' being the final one. The ceremony took place before the summit clash of the 18th edition of world's biggest T20 tournament between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings. The players trained in the background with RCB being the first team to take the field for their warm-ups followed by their rivals PBKS soon after. The tournament was suspended for 10 days last month when the country's armed forces were executing Operation Sindoor — a military operation in response to Pakistan backed terrorists killing 26 Indian citizens in Kashmir' Pahalgam. (With agency inputs)
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First Post
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
RCB vs PBKS, IPL 2025 Final: Krunal Pandya bowls potential match-winning spell as Bengaluru eye maiden title
Krunal Pandya bowled a game-changing spell in the IPL 2025 final as Royal Challengers Bengaluru took control against Punjab Kings in their quest for a maiden title. read more Royal Challengers Bengaluru are in a strong position in the against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. A lot of the credit should go to Krunal Pandya, who bowled a brilliant spell in the high-stakes clash. The left-arm spinner helped RCB make a comeback and slow down Punjab Kings' momentum in the big chase. Krunal Pandya helps RCB make a comeback Chasing 191 to win their first-ever IPL trophy, Punjab Kings were off to a solid start. Their openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh added 43 runs in quick time. Arya scored 24 off 19 balls before getting caught near the ropes off Josh Hazlewood's bowling. Prabhsimran kept the momentum going with a couple of sixes. But Krunal Pandya changed the game for RCB with two big wickets. First, he got Prabhsimran Singh out for 26, caught by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Then, in his final over, he dismissed Josh Inglis, who was looking dangerous after scoring 39 off 23 balls. Inglis hit 4 sixes, but Krunal got him caught by Liam Livingstone at deep mid-wicket. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Krunal finished with brilliant figures of 4 over with 17 runs and 2 wickets. He kept things tight and didn't allow any boundaries except for one six and bowled 12 dot balls in his spell. He also took a brilliant catch to dismiss Nehal Wadhera in the 17th over as PBKS slipped further. Punjab Kings are currently on the backfoot as they attempt to score 191. They will need a miracle to win from here.
