On Tuesday (June 3) Krunal Pandya starred in Ball, with Royal Challengers’ Bengaluru defeating the Punjab Kings in the final of IPL 2025 to win the first title.
The Bengaluru-based outfit ran the Punjab Kings six times in the thrilling final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Krunal Pandya is shining
At the venue, spinners usually struggle, but Krunal Pandya had a huge impact and was judged to be the player of the match due to his stunning display. He gave up just 17 runs in four overs and also picked up two important wickets. In a match where most bowlers struggled to maintain a good economic rate, Krunal Pandya was recognized for only 4.2 runs per game.
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He put the RCB in a strong position by dismissing the well-set Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis. It was his fourth time he fired Inglis on 39 runs and handed over just three runs.
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After his final victory, Krunal Pandya celebrated the occasion by recreating the celebration of his brother Hardik’s trademark. With the IPL trophy in front of him, Krunal poses with his arms stretched out as Hardik did after winning the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
❤❤️ @rcbtweets pic.twitter.com/nrsgtjv8br
-KrunalPandya (@Krunalpandya24) June 4, 2025
Krunal×Hardik -The The Trademart Celebration🥶 pic.twitter.com/tqryjuspig
– Johns. (@criccrazyjohns) June 4, 2025
Krunal Pandya creates history
The stunning performance at the IPL 2025 Finals also helped Krunal Pandya create history. He is now the first player to win two match awards in the IPL Finals. He won his first award in 2017 playing for the Mumbai Indians.
In that final, he was judged to be the player in the match due to his batting efforts. The Mumbai Indians who batted first were caught up in 79/7 before Krunal Pandya’s 47 runnocks pushed them into a challenging total.
Clutch player 😎#krunalpandya #RCB #RCBVSPBKS #RCBVPBKS #ipl2025 #IPL2025FINAL pic.twitter.com/k2pptviotp
-CricBuzz (@crickbuzz) June 4, 2025
I just supported myself – Krunal Pandia
“When I hit the first inning, I was sitting outside chatting with the batters. I realized you slow down bowling. But in this format, as a bowler, the format requires courage to do that because the margin of error is small.
“I just thought if I could support myself and change my pace and keep it on the slower side, I would create a chance rather than fire it,” Kroanal said after the match.
Coming to the game, RCB scored 190/9 in the allocated 20 overs. In reply, the Punjab Kings finished the innings on 184/7.