After leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy on Tuesday, captain Rajat Patidar yelled, “Ee sala Cup Namdu,” which roughly translates to, “This year, the cup is ours.” Following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 6-run victory over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League 2025 final, Virat Kohli was clearly moved.

Throughout his 18 years in the league, Kohli has only ever played for RCB, making him the only player to do so. While his teammates ran and joined him in celebrating, Kohli collapsed to the ground in tears as the last ball soared over the boundary line. It’s just one more cap on the legendary player’s remarkable career.

On a night that will live in memory for years to come, RCB defeated Punjab Kings by 190 runs to win the IPL 2025 championship for the first time ever.

After being sent in, RCB batted first and relied on hard hits from Mayank Agarwal, Liam Livingstone, and Virat Kohli (43), with Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd providing the last touches. RCB managed a valiant 190/9 despite Kyle Jamieson’s three-wicket haul (3/48) and Arshdeep Singh’s triple-wicket final over (3/40).

Nehal Wadhera struck Punjab with the first delivery in the 17th over during their 191 chase. Stoinis hit a six off the first ball when he came out to bat at 136/5, needing 55 off 22 deliveries.
Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis helped Punjab start the chase calmly, but Krunal Pandya’s twin strike destroyed their top order. They plummeted to 88/4 from 70/1, with Shreyas Iyer falling for a single run. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar stood firm at the end, and late appearances from Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh (61 not out) weren’t enough. On the subsequent ball, Bhuvi responded by hitting the Australian batter’s outside edge, which helped his team win the match.

During the Indian Premier League 2025 final, Kohli was also spotted celebrating Marcus Stoinis’s wicket with old RCB teammate AB de Villiers. The Proteas wicketkeeper batsman bumped with Kohli’s fist while supporting his old team at the Narendra Modi Stadium’s summit match against the Punjab Kings.

After finishing second in the group stage points table, RCB defeated the top-ranked Punjab Kings by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 to advance to their first IPL final in nine years. However, Punjab recovered in Qualifier 2, defeating the Mumbai Indians to force a crucial rematch in the championship match.

“I believe it is truly unique for myself, Virat Kohli, and all of his devoted supporters. They are deserving. It was amazing to witness how bowlers carried out their strategies. Krunal Pandya is a bowler who takes wickets. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to serve as captain under him, and I learned a lot. He deserves it more than anyone else, as I mentioned. Virat Kohli and every supporter. The manner the management and support personnel have helped the players was admirable, as has everyone else. At the presentation, Rajat Patidar, captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, said, “I just want to say one line for the fans: Ee sala Cup Namdu.”

“The supporters are just as proud of this victory as the squad is. I have dedicated my youth, my prime, and all of my experience to this franchise. Every season, I put my all into trying to win it. To be honest, I never imagined this day would arrive. In a post-match interview, Virat Kohli stated, “When we won, I was overcome with emotion.”

After the final, Josh Hazlewood, the senior pacer for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, stated, “It means everything to Kohli.” “It will be very emotional to be there from the beginning and see the outcome tonight.”

“We realized when we were batting that the slower you bowled, the better. It takes guts to do it in this format. I simply backed off and decided to change up my speed more frequently, keeping it slower. Finding out what the scenario calls for has been my greatest strength. I understood that getting wickets tonight would require courage. I figured I’d bowl slowly to achieve that. It would have been a good wicket if you had bowled quickly. everything was more difficult, though, if you messed everything up. As Krunal accepted the POTM trophy, he stated, “In fact, the pitch got easier in the second innings.”

“I’m proud of my squad, but I’m sad too. A lot of young people volunteered. We put up a great fight and will return stronger the following season. Many young players are participating in their debut season, and they have demonstrated a great deal of bravery. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. Bravo to them. Next year, we must be present and take home the prize. The way we showed up for every game with the conviction that “we can win this game.” Shreyas Iyer stated in the post-match interview, “Hopefully, we can be here next season and play some good cricket.”

“RCB are IPL Champions finally after 18 years,” Vijay Mallya, the first owner of the Bengaluru franchise posted on X. “Superb campaign right through the 2025 tournament. A well-balanced team Playing Bold with outstanding coaching and support staff. Many congratulations! Ee sala cup namde!!”

Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda, who was among the first to congratulate the RCB team, took to his X timeline to put out a congratulatory post, “Congratulations to @RCBTweets, all RCB fans. You have waited with so much energy and passion and love. It’s a happy happy moment to see.”

Telugu star Allu Arjun too put out a congratulatory message. He said, “The wait is over. “Ee sala cup namde!” At last! We’ve been waiting for this day for 18 years. A big, big congratulations to RCB!“