Virat Kohli appeared a little surprised when he was named Player of the Match after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s dominant win over Punjab Kings in their IPL 2025 clash in Mullanpur. Kohli top-scored with an unbeaten 73, but felt the award should have gone to fellow half-centurion Devdutt Padikkal or one of the bowlers for helping restrict Punjab to 157 in the afternoon game on Sunday, April 20.
Virat Kohli ensured he stayed till the end, hitting an unbeaten 73 off 54 balls and helping RCB complete the chase in 18.5 overs, securing their fifth straight win away from home. While Kohli played the anchor’s role after Phil Salt’s early dismissal, Devdutt provided the early impetus, smashing 61 off just 35 balls with four sixes and five boundaries.
“The mindset has to be to get 2 points in every game. I wanted to accelerate more. I thought Dev made a difference today, this award should go to him, I don’t know why they have given it to me. I try to stay there, holding one end up and try to accelerate later. There always is a temptation to keep going in the same way,” Virat Kohli said.
Kohli’s heartfelt words for Devdutt Padikkal came just days after MS Dhoni expressed surprise at receiving the Player of the Match award following Chennai Super Kings’ win over Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow. Dhoni, who hit 26 off just 11 balls and was electric behind the stumps, felt Noor Ahmed deserved the award more for his economical spell that restricted Lucknow to 166 in 20 overs. | IPL 2025 PBKS vs RCB Highlights – Scorecard |
On Sunday, Kohli’s game awareness was spot on as he avoided risky shots in the middle overs on a pitch that offered spin and grip.
“One partnership is good enough in T20 cricket during run chase. I can accelerate, but I want to understand the strengths of other players. Holding one end up at the moment, that’s working for us. It was a very good auction for us, we got a good team,” Kohli said, explaining how the rest of the side is structured to complement an anchor at the top.
“Guys like David, Jitesh, Patidar, the roles they are playing. It’s coming off nicely. Also Romario coming in for us today. Livingstone’s also there. That was missing over the last seasons. Guys can keep counter-attacking, the guys are hungry. You can see that intensity on the field as they are diving around. That is really pleasing to see. When you play like that, your chances of winning are better.”
For RCB, it was a perfect game after the horror show in Bengaluru two days earlier. Against PBKS at home, RCB were in danger of being bowled out for under 50 before Tim David rescued them to 95 for 9 in a rain-affected match. Punjab chased down the target with ease.
However, RCB were a different beast in Mullanpur, shining with both bat and ball. While Kohli and Devdutt starred with the bat, spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma delivered with the ball, picking up four wickets for just 50 runs in eight overs between them.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood were clinical at the death, nailing their yorkers and conceding just a single boundary in the final four overs.
