IPL 2025 Summary: RCB's First Title, Full Match Analysis & Disruptions

 IPL 2025 Full Recap: RCB Finally Breaks the Curse!

IPL 2025: In-Depth Explanation

Overview

The 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL 2025), officially IPL 18, branded as TATA IPL 2025, was the 18th season of the world's premier franchise T20 cricket tournament. The season involved 10 teams, 74 matches, and was characterized by fierce competition, dramatic interruptions, and the historic maiden title victory for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

 

Tournament Structure and Format

The league operated from March 22 to June 3, 2025, with games held in 13 venues originally, subsequently reduced to six because of mid-season interruptions.

The teams were allocated into two groups of five, depending on past performance and seedings.

Each team had 14 league games:

Twice against the four teams within their own group and the team in the same row from the other group (home and away).

Up against the other group's remaining four teams.

Top four league-stage teams made it to the playoffs.

Points system: 2 points for victory, 1 for a no-result/abandoned match, and Net Run Rate (NRR) applied as the tiebreaker.

 

Key Dates and Disruptions:

The tournament started on March 22, 2025, with the first match at Eden Gardens between two-time titleholders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and RCB.

On May 9, the league was postponed because of the 2025 India–Pakistan crisis. It resumed on May 17, with the last one rescheduled from May 25 to June 3.

Playoffs and the final were moved to new grounds, with the final being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

 

Teams and Groups:

 

   Group A:                                          Group B:

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)               Mumbai Indians (MI)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)            Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Rajasthan Royals (RR)                       Gujarat Titans (GT)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru             Delhi Capitals (DC)

Punjab Kings (PBKS)                         Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

 

Playoff Structure

Top two sides: Played Qualifier 1; winner went straight to the final.

Third and fourth: Played the Eliminator; loser out.

Losers of Qualifier 1 vs. Winners of Eliminator: Contested Qualifier 2 for the second final berth.

 

Champions and Final

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won their very first IPL title, beating Punjab Kings by 6 runs in a nail-biting final.

Krunal Pandya was awarded Player of the Match in the final for his stingy bowling (4-0-17-2).

Other good performances in the final:

Jitesh Sharma: Super Striker (24 off 10 balls for Punjab Kings)

Shashank Singh: Super Sixes (61* with six sixes)

Priyansh Arya: On the Go Fours award

Krunal Pandya: Green Dot Ball for pressure bowling.

 

Highlighting Changes and Highlights

IPL 2025 used the ICC's T20I Code of Conduct for the first time, doing away with its own code.

The tournament was affected by geopolitical developments, leading to a brief suspension and rescheduling of games.

The season kept to the traditional 74-match design of earlier years, with an expansion to 84 matches scheduled for 2026.

 

Award Winners

Orange Cap (Most Runs): Sai Sudarshan

Purple Cap (Most Wickets): Prasidh Krishna

MVP and other honors: Awarded for outstanding performances during the season.

 

Conclusion

IPL 2025 was a milestone season, not only for RCB's historic victory but also for its determination in the face of external interruptions and its admiration of individual excellence. The changing format of the tournament, competitive equilibrium, and dramatics guaranteed that its position as the world's most profitable and followed T20 league remained undisturbed.