RCB’s Mo Bobat says he thought they were 10 runs below-par in IPL 2025 final against PBKS

While recalling IPL 2025 final, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Director of Cricket Mo Bobat reckons he thought they were 10 runs short of a par-score in summit clash against Punjab Kings. Put into bat by PBKS skipper, Shreyas Iyer, RCB posted 190 runs on the board.

RCB veteran batter Virat Kohli top-scored with 43 whereas the likes of Rajat Patidar, Living Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, and Romario Shepherd all played crucial cameos.

Subsequently, RCB were able to restrict the Mohali-based franchise to 184, registering their maiden IPL triumph in the history of the tournament. Krunal Pandya was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with figures of 2-17 in his quota of four overs. The all-rounder was awarded Player of the Match for his impressive spell.

“If I’m honest, at half-time, I know some commentators thought we might have been 30 runs short. I thought we were about 10 runs short. I thought 200 was about right. But I thought we were one of the best bowling attacks in the competition, so we could earn those 10 runs back. I also thought chasing in a final had some pressure,” Mo Bobat said in an interview with Cricbuzz.

Bobat said when he rewatched the match, he felt RCB were in control for the major part in the second innings.

“A couple of days later, DK and I and a couple of the coaches watched the final back because I wanted to re-watch it ball by ball. When I went back a bit more impartially, I felt a bit more comfortable in the second innings, feeling like we were in a good place. But when you’re in the game, you feel more nervous than that, of course you do,” he added.

The RCB’S Director of Cricket added he wants the franchise to win more titles after winning their maiden trophy in the last edition.

“I haven’t come here to only win one IPL. I’d like us to win several IPLs so this is a start, and the speed at which we achieved that is good – mainly because I think we were brave enough to do things differently, that’s why I’m satisfied. I was satisfied when we qualified for top-two, but I was still hungry for us to go all the way. I don’t like using the word ‘legacy’, but what I’m clear on is that we are part of this “new RCB” that I described earlier. We don’t want to be waiting 18 years for the next victory, for the next trophy… we’re too good a franchise to be doing that and too good a team of players,” Mo Bobat explained.

“What we’ve done might be unique in RCB’s history but it’s not unique in the IPL – there’s seven other teams that have done it, so let’s not tell ourselves that it’s unique. We should enjoy it, be proud of it, be proud that we were able to do it for our fans because they’ve been the most patient. But we’ve got to set our standards high and our bar high, and we should be trying to achieve an era of success,” he concluded.

RCB will look to defend their title in IPL 2026.