I wanted that trophy – Krunal Pandya on his goals after joining RCB

When Krunal Pandya joined the RCB side in 2025, experts claimed it was a value addition to the squad. Along those lines, Pandya rewrote the dynamics with his own mighty performances and eventually proved to be the team's MVP all-rounder. When he started the year, his first remark was that he wanted to win the IPL trophy with RCB. And that is exactly what he pulled off.

Talking on Big Basket presents RCB Podcast, Pandya explained how he set his immediate objective and what was the thought process behind the same. He also revealed how a drought of IPL trophies motivated his hunger even more and that galvanized him into dishing out the finest for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Shedding light on his feelings when he joined RCB, Pandya said, “When I joined the team, as I have always told that, and I always repeat, you know, we play in a team sport, it's not an individual sport. And for me, the ultimate goal is actually, you know, when you retire, it's not about the number of runs what you have scored or the number of wickets what you have taken. People tend to forget that eventually you are always associated in a team sport that how many trophies you have won. So, myself, I had a five-year of drought of, you know, not experiencing that every year when I used to see the trophy, I wanted that.”

He further added, “I was like, I want to lift that again, I want to lift that again. And when I came and joined and then I thought from a point of view where it's been 18 years where this team has not won it and I can totally relate to that feeling.”

Explaining his mindset, when he played against RCB and the biggest motivational factor, Pandya said, “That's a long time and it's very passionate fans. I have played against RCB and I won't lie about it. Fans always made this team special. So when I was in the opposition side also, I always wanted to, you know, have that upper hand against RCB because they were so passionate and they were so involved in the game.”

Highlighting the Virat factor, KP added, “And obviously for Virat, you know, to play for one franchise for 17 years and getting into his 18th season, that's a long time. So, yeah, I was able to relate that feeling of not having trophies. We all know that, you know, winning an IPL trophy is not that easy. The beauty of this league is that, you know, every team has five, six match winners.”

He concluded by saying, “So the uncertainty is so much where you know that every game you have to be on your top of the game. A league like this, winning trophy is always tough. But yeah, I mean, that's the ultimate feeling when you experience something which is beyond your individual performance. And I was glad and I joined the team and when I saw fans now being part of RCB was pretty special.”