IPL 2025: PBKS vs RCB, Match 37 – Who Said What?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings in the reverse game of Match No. 37 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Sunday, April 20. Fielding first paid off as the visitors chased down the total with — balls to spare.

With this convincing win, RCB have won five games this season and are unblemished away from home. The Royal Challengers moved up to third on the IPL 2025 Points Table as Jitesh Sharma hit the winning six in the mid-wicket region. The undefeated Virat Kohli was Player of the Match.

Talking Points

1. ‘Kruel’ Pandya proves himself again

As the world keeps moving to the Impact Player rule, RCB really haven’t required the services of all-rounder Krunal Pandya with the bat, however, he has been more than impressive with the ball in his hands. He proved a bit too cruel during his four-over spell, as he removed both the Punjab openers in successive overs.

The most highlighting part of the day though was his spectacular catch at long-on, where he ran and dived quite a distance to pull off a stunning take in the end, having the dangerous Shreyas Iyer walk back to the pavilion quite cheaply. His bowling figures read 4-0-24-2 at the end of his spell.

 2. Kohli-DDP bring back lockdown memories

During the IPL 2020 and 2021, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were the most vital cogs in RCB’s top-order, as both were among the top run-getters for the side in both the seasons with 400-plus runs for both. This game had the RCB fans relish the lockdown memories. At Mullanpur, Padikkal hit 61 off 35 balls, while Kohli too notched up yet another half-century for himself, and mastered his way to a brilliant run chase for the Bengaluru-based franchise.

3. Playoffs race spices up

With RCB reaching third on the table, the top five teams now have ten points each and the race to the playoffs has spiced up even further with the tournament reaching its halfway stage. Punjab, who also have the equal number of points are fourth on the table, with Gujarat Titans, led by Shubman Gill, holding the top spot. Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants are second and fifth, respectively, as of the conclusion of Match No. 37.

Who Said What

Rajat Patidar, RCB captain, said

Credit goes to the bowlers. Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli, the way they executed their plans. The bowlers chipped in at different stages, the way they executed their plans, it was beautiful. Had to bowl tight lines as the wicket was a little slow. That was the message to all the bowlers. We had a chat last night about our fielding. Everyone put in their efforts and that was beautiful. I want to win a toss there (Chinnaswamy). We will try to play good cricket at our home ground, we will try to rectify our mistakes there.

Shreyas Iyer, PBKS captain, said

Just a minor niggle, should be fine after this game. If you see the majority of our batters like to go from ball one, we’ve struggled to assess the wicket when we bat first. Otherwise we’ve not been able to capitalise on the starts we’ve been getting. We weren’t able to set a total we could defend. If you see the positives, we got a great start, the bowlers have been doing a tremendous job.

Credit to Virat and the boys, they played well. We keep talking about adapting to the wicket, once the ball gets old it doesn’t skid off the wicket that well. Both of them (openers) are great strokemakers, it’s hard for them to comprehend if you tell them to slow down. Need to take the bull by the horns and see to it that we get a good total on the board for the bowlers.

I’m in a great mindspace, I just need to cross 10 runs and I can take on the charge. Don’t want to give reasons, want to stay in the present as much as possible. We’ve got six days off, important that we go back to the drawing board, also important we rejuvenate and refresh, need to make sure we’re in the best shape possible before the next game.

Virat Kohli, Player of the Match, said