The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will play their fourth Indian Premier League final on 3 June, as history beckons in the T20 league.
The IPL will crown a new champion for the first time since the 2016 final, which RCB lost, as the Bengaluru side faces Punjab Kings in the summit clash.
Neither team has won the title in the league’s history, with both sides faltering in previous appearances in the final: RCB three times and PBKS once.
RCB reached the IPL final and finished as runners-up in 2009, 2011, and 2016. A clear pattern has emerged in their failures at the final hurdle.
The chasing pattern
Every time RCB played in an IPL final, the Bengaluru side ended up chasing a target, whether by choice or otherwise.
In all three finals—2009, 2011, and 2016—RCB lost after the opposition set them a target.
IPL 2009 final – RCB vs Deccan Chargers
In the 2009 IPL final, captain Anil Kumble won the toss against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers and chose to field first.
DC batted on a challenging wicket in Johannesburg and posted 143/6 in their 20 overs. Kumble bowled his counterpart Adam Gilchrist in the first over, but the Chargers recovered, riding on a half-century from Herschelle Gibbs (53 off 48)
The DC innings received a middle-overs boost from Andrew Symonds (33 off 21) and a young Rohit Sharma (24 off 23) — both dismissed by Kumble — as the Hyderabad franchise set RCB a target of 144 to win the title.
However, it wasn’t RCB’s evening, as they agonisingly fell short by 7 runs, finishing their innings at 137/9. Virat Kohli, who was just 20 at the time, managed only 7 runs, as none of the RCB batters ever found momentum to carry them past the finish line.
RCB faced defending champions Chennai Super Kings at their home ground, the MA Chidambaram Stadium. This time, the home side won the toss and chose to bat first.
It proved to be the right decision — and emphatically so — as a brilliant opening stand of 159 between Michael Hussey (63 off 45) and Murali Vijay (95 off 52) dismantled the RCB bowling attack.
CSK posted 205/5, and RCB effectively lost the match in the very first over of the chase.
MS Dhoni handed the new ball to emerging off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and the local lad struck early, dismissing the dangerous Chris Gayle for a duck on the third ball of the opening over.
From there, RCB never truly recovered, eventually finishing at 147/8 and falling short of the target by 59 runs.
This was the year RCB were expected to win the title, entering the final as overwhelming favourites.
They had home advantage at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, but more importantly, their captain was in a league of his own.
Virat Kohli amassed 973 runs in 16 innings that season at an average of 81.08, including four centuries and seven fifties.
SRH won the toss and chose to bat first, posting 208/7 in their 20 overs.
RCB made an excellent start to their chase, with openers Chris Gayle (76 off 38) and Virat Kohli (54 off 35) putting on a 114-run opening stand in just 10.3 overs.
However, Gayle’s wicket triggered a batting collapse, as none of the other batters—not even the formidable AB de Villiers—could support the openers, and RCB fell short at 200/7 in their 20 overs.
IPL 2025 final – RCB vs PBKS: Win the toss and bat first?
So, if RCB wins the toss, should they choose to bat first and set a big target for PBKS?
Well, the last time the two sides met was in Qualifier 1 at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur, where RCB won the toss and decided to chase.
The decision seemed to pay off, as RCB skittled the Punjab batsmen for 101 all out and chased the target in just 10 overs.
PBKS bounced back in Qualifier 2 by successfully chasing MI’s imposing total of 204 with six balls to spare.
If the RCB think tank places stock in superstition and their previous IPL final records, they would likely consider batting first if they win the toss.
However, PBKS, their opponents in the IPL 2025 final, have shown a clear preference for batting second in this year’s knockout matches.
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