Virat Kohli lifts IPL 2025 trophy as RCB secure historic first title
Kohli surpasses Dhawan to top IPL fours tally
DUBAI: Virat Kohli finally claimed the elusive Indian Premier League crown as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Punjab Kings by six runs in the IPL 2025 final held in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night.
The 36-year-old cricket icon, who has been with RCB since the league’s inception in 2008, top-scored with a gritty 43 off 35 balls, steering his side to 190-9. Punjab, chasing their own maiden title, fell just short, finishing on 184-7 despite a late charge by Shashank Singh.
The emotional scenes that followed included Kohli reuniting with former RCB stars AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, lifting the trophy after 18 years of dedication to the franchise.
IPL 2025 Final
Kohli opened the innings with England’s Phil Salt, who fell for 16, caught by Shreyas Iyer off Kyle Jamieson. Kohli, meanwhile, played a composed knock before falling to Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai with RCB at 143.
Middle-order contributions from Liam Livingstone (25), Cameron Green, and Mahipal Lomror kept the scoreboard ticking. However, a dramatic final over from Arshdeep Singh, where he picked three wickets, restricted RCB from breaching the 200-run mark.
For Punjab, Jamieson and Arshdeep each claimed three wickets, with Omarzai and Harshal Patel picking up one apiece.
Punjab's response
The Kings started their chase cautiously but stumbled early with skipper Shreyas Iyer falling for just one. Romario Shepherd and Bhuvneshwar Kumar tightened the screws with disciplined spells.
Shashank Singh, however, kept Punjab’s hopes alive with an unbeaten 61 from just 30 balls. He struck 22 off the last four deliveries of the innings bowled by Josh Hazlewood, but the team still finished six runs shy of the target.
Nehal Wadhera and Marcus Stoinis, who had the potential to tilt the game, fell within three balls of Bhuvneshwar, derailing the chase.
Records and milestones
Kohli crossed Shikhar Dhawan’s record for most fours in IPL history during the match. His 769th four, struck early in the innings, took him past Dhawan’s 768, placing him at the top of the all-time list. The milestone came in his 258th IPL innings.
David Warner follows in third with 663 fours, trailed by Rohit Sharma (640) and Ajinkya Rahane (514).
In the 2025 season, Kohli amassed 657 runs, finishing third on the run-scorers chart with an average of 54.75. He was 86 runs short of becoming the first player to record three separate 700+ run seasons, having scored 973 in 2016 and 741 in 2024.
Flower’s winning touch
Coach Andy Flower added another feather to his cap by guiding RCB to their maiden title in just his second season.
RCB had lost in the eliminator round in 2024 under Flower, but this year they finished second in the league stage, behind Punjab on net run-rate. They then beat the same side in Qualifier 1 and again in the final.
Flower, a former England coach, has now won top-tier leagues across three countries, with previous titles in the Pakistan Super League (Multan Sultans, 2021) and The Hundred (Trent Rockets, 2022).
England internationals Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Jacob Bethell were all part of RCB’s winning squad.
Salt and Livingstone played active roles in the final, each taking a catch. Bethell, meanwhile, was unavailable for the match due to England’s ODI commitments against the West Indies, having featured in two earlier IPL matches.
Livingstone lifted back-to-back IPL trophies, having been part of the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders squad in 2024.
Virat Kohli in IPL
After 267 IPL matches, Kohli’s record stands at 8,661 runs with eight centuries and 63 half-centuries. Despite finals losses in 2009, 2011, and 2016, he remained with RCB throughout, even captaining them between 2013 and 2021.
Kohli's statement, “This win is for the fans... my soul is with Bangalore,” echoed the sentiment of a player whose career has been inextricably linked to RCB.
The 2025 IPL title completes a hat-trick of major tournament wins for Kohli in the past 12 months, following India’s victories in the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy.