We knew the wicket is not easy – Bhuvneshwar Kumar on RCB’s historic title win

The RCB batters came together to dish out what was a collective show of brilliance and rack up 190 runs in the IPL 2025 final, after being put in to bat first. Despite stutters in the middle, a mix of composure and belligerence saw RCB fire on all cylinders to reach a position from where the bowlers could come up with a defence that would propel them to history.

Punjab rode high on the partnership of Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh to create a platform that could have been used for a final launch. However, the introduction of Bhuvneshwar Kumar derailed the Kings as his double whammy was more than enough to sneak in a crucial catalyst in place for RCB. Bhuvi claimed the prized scalps of Marcus Stoinis and Nehal Wadhera to apply a screeching halt to PBKS and from thereon, RCB put in a calculated display to rack up their first IPL of the season.

Talking in a post-match interview, Bhuvneshwar Kumar explained the conditions in the mix and how the surface had enough hints to believe that 190 is a decent total which will allow the bowlers to fight their hearts out.

Shedding light on the conditions, Bhuvi said, “We knew the wicket is not easy. We thought 180 would be a good score to defend and we got 190 - 10 more than what we thought. And the way we executed our plans says a lot about the bowling unit.”

He concluded with a special message about RCB’s gamechanger in the final, Krunal Pandya, stating, “His (Krunal) spell changed the scenario for us. Change of pace wasn't easy. We spoke about not overusing it and using other options along with the slower one as well.”