RCB have sealed a place in the IPL 2025 final by defeating the Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1.
Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Aaron Finch has lauded the franchise’s core strength in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Bengaluru outfit thrashed the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur last night to seal a place in the IPL 2025 final.
Finch recalled how a few stalwarts, including their former captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Windies big-hitter Chris Gayle, used to carry RCB with their performances throughout all these years. However, this 17-year-long template underwent a radical change in IPL 2025. Every player on the team has delivered match-winning performances on various occasions for RCB.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to attribute it to eight players being man of the match throughout the season. Because RCB have always been dominated by a few players. A few big batters, I would say, did a bulk of the lifting. But there was always talks about, after Virat Kohli, who’s the highest run-scorer? This year, that has changed,” said Finch to ESPN Cricinfo.
The former Australia skipper, Finch, discussed how every player in the RCB playing XI has played their part this season. All the batters, including overseas stars and Indian talents, have stepped up at different times and contributed to the team’s winning cause.
“Phil Salt has come in, he’s played a really big hand. Devdutt Padikkal was instrumental in the first half. Now, you’ve got somebody like Jitesh Sharma standing up. Rajat Patidar is looking good, even from last game, though he didn’t get too many runs. And then Tim David comes in, plays brilliantly. Romario Shepherd, what an innings. So if you actually think about it, so many moments from RCB straightaway comes to mind that, everybody’s chipped in at different times when they were down and out,” he stressed.
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Further, the 38-year-old acknowledged the importance of pacer Josh Hazlewood’s presence in the RCB bowling unit. He made a comeback last night after sustaining a shoulder injury. Finch also praised the spin duo of Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma for their exceptional show in this season so far.
“Obviously, Josh Hazlewood, huge addition. Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] again today, brilliant. Krunal Pandya and Suyash again, before the season, we were talking about their spin. You know what, RCB doesn’t have the best spin attack, but their spinners have stood up better than anybody else,” added the former batter.
Notably, Suyash was adjudged the Player of the Match award last night for his brilliant figures of 3-0-17-3. Previously, the leg-spinner has also scalped five wickets for his franchise in the league stage of the IPL 2025. Apart from Suyash, seven other players have won the POTM award for RCB this season.
With their comprehensive eight-wicket victory over PBKS last night, Rajat Patidar and Co. have made it to the IPL 2025 final. On the other hand, the Gujarat Titans will go head-to-head with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 Eliminator tonight.
The winner of the Eliminator will face PBKS in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad. RCB will clash with the Qualifier 2 winner in the summit clash on June 3, to end their over-a-decade-long drought for the elusive IPL title.
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