Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 culminated on Tuesday, June 3 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lifting their maiden title, beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, but the talks around the premier T20 tournament are still on. What came as a aftermath to RCB’s win was something that no one would like to see, a celebration in Bengaluru which turned into tragedy, leaving 11 dead and over 70 injured.
However, the interrogation of the same continues in Bengaluru, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently opened up on the reason behind moving the IPL 2025 final out of the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It is to be noted that earlier, the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad and the iconic Eden Gardens were set to hold the playoffs, including the final.
However, a sudden halt in the tournament due to the heightened cross border tensions after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, not only saw it getting pushed 10 days later, but also saw the playoffs move to all new venues. While the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator took place in Mullanpur, the Qualifier 2 and final was moved to Ahmedabad.
The decision was never political: Devajit Saikia on IPL 2025 Final being played in Ahmedabad
However, the change in venue saw severl hitting out at the BCCI for calling it a political move, but recently the BCCI Secretary opened up on the same and claimed it to be backed by simple scientific inputs. "The decision was never political. We have banked on scientific material and inputs. There was no forecast for rain in Ahmedabad at the time of the GC," Devajit Saikia said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Speaking of the summit clash, PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer had won the toss and elected to bowl first. After inviting the Rajat Patidar-led side to put the score first, on the back of three wicket hauls from Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson, PBKS restricted RCB to 190/9, courtesy a gritty 35-ball 43 from Virat Kohli.
In reply, PBKS had a decent start but then struggled as they kept losing wickets. However, despite a late flurry of boundaries from Shashank Singh, PBKS fell just short of lifting their maiden title and registered a six-run defeat. Krunal Pandya proved to be a game-changer, registering figures of 2/17 in his four-over spell.
