After 18 years of waiting, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won their first IPL title in 2025 by beating Punjab Kings in the finals. Ahmedabad saw emotional scenes as Virat Kohli was in tears, but the question everyone asked was if the team could do it again. Before this, only the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians had been able to do the repeat.
That question was answered when RCB beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets to claim their second successive title. It was almost like the Bengaluru-based side had walked to the title win with ease. Rajat Patidar wore a very happy look as he and his players gathered around the podium with the title.
Amidst the glee of the title win, four players have played their role in the team’s rise to the top. Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as well as batter Devdutt Padikkal, were fabulous this season, as were young pace sensation Rasikh Salam Dar and veteran all-rounder Krunal Pandya.
Here are the four players who changed the team’s fortunes around
Rasikh Salam Dar –
In 2019, a young seamer from Jammu and Kashmir made his league debut for Mumbai, where he played just one game. This was followed by a move to the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022, where he played two games and went wicketless, just like he had done with MI. Moving to the Delhi Capitals saw Rasikh Salam Dar play eight games and take nine wickets.
Moving to the Royal Challengers didn’t start well, as he played two games last season and took one wicket. But this season, the right-arm pacer picked 19 wickets with an economy rate of 9.45 runs per over. The pacer picked three wickets in the finals to break the back of the Titans’ batting.
Devdutt Padikkal
Left-handed batter started his IPL career with his hometown franchise, where he played 29 games with 884 runs with one century and six fifties. Devdutt Padikkal then went to Rajasthan, followed by Lucknow, and was just able to manage 35 games and score just 675 runs with three fifties. In fact, the batter during his time with LSG scored a mere 38 runs from seven games, with a best of 13 runs.
Consider this with his return home last season, and has become a key member of the team, scoring 711 runs from 26 games with five fifties. Padikkal has also become aggressive and has complemented the dangerous opening batters well during this season.
Krunal Pandya
Unlike his brother Hardik, the 35-year-old Krunal didn’t have a great time after leaving the Mumbai Indians at the end of the 2021 season. Krunal Pandya had won three IPL titles with MI during his six-year stint with the Men in Blue and Gold. After being released, the all-rounder moved to Lucknow and played a total of 43 games, picked 25 wickets and scored 504 runs with the bat.
It seems the move to Chinnaswamy Stadium has made the veteran a different player and given him a new lease of life. With the bat, Pandya has been able to score 335 runs from 31 games with two fifties. His first fifty came in his debut season, but he has already scored two successive fifties. Even with the ball, the veteran star has found himself once more and taken 31 wickets.
Not just his impact with the bat and ball, it is the variations that the senior Pandya has got to the table that have left batters flummoxed. The bowler has added a deadly bouncer that has made the batter’s life miserable and, on many occasions, left the team owners shocked.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
In 2009, a young pacer from Uttar Pradesh made his way to the IPL but didn’t manage to make his debut. It wasn’t until 2011 that Bhuvneshwar Kumar got to make his league debut for Pune Warriors India, where he played three seasons and took 24 wickets. Moving to Sunrisers Hyderabad paid rich dividends as the seamer found a permanent home.
In his 11 years with the Hyderabad side, Kumar picked 157 wickets and played a key role in their sole title win in 2016. SRH incidentally beat RCB in the finals, with Bhuvi bowling four overs for 25 runs without taking a wicket. Veteran seamer managed to pick just 11 wickets during the 2024 season, where the Men in Orange reached the finals and lost.
Kavya Maran and her side decided to release the fast bowler, who then moved across the border to Karnataka and became a huge figure. In the last two seasons, the man from Meerut has managed to claim 45 wickets from mere 30 games, with 28 scalps coming this season.
How did RCB management play smart?
All four of the aforementioned players were either released, thinking they had passed their prime, or were released due to their bad performances. IPL is known to be driven by data and records; it was Dinesh Karthik who wanted his former India teammate back at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karthik called the fast bowler the best T20 bowler in India after Jasprit Bumrah while speaking to Mo Bobat, the director of cricket, and coach Andy Flower.
One team’s baggage became another team’s charm, and the ignored pacer is a perfect embodiment of that. Each and every player seems to have his role defined, but it is these four players that have done the most this season and perhaps have gone under the radar. With strong management and team support, the Royal Challengers could very well create their own dynasty, like how CSK and MI had in the years gone by.
Comments are closed.