Krunal Pandya spills beans about conversation with brother Hardik after RCB’s maiden IPL triumph

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Krunal Pandya being presented an award during the presentation ceremony of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Krunal Pandya, who was named Player of the Match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 18th edition final against Punjab Kings, revealed that he called his brother Hardik after the game and cited that the Pandya household has nine IPL trophies in 11 years.

Krunal, who Bengaluru acquired for ₹5.75 crore, unleashed every weapon from his fully-loaded arsenal in the high-stakes final and left the spectators spellbound and returning with figures of 2/17 in his four-over spell. He single-handedly broke the backbone of Punjab’s attempt to hunt down the 191-run target and steered Bengaluru to a six-run triumph and RCB’s first IPL trophy victory.

While receiving the Player of the Match award, Krunal spilt the beans about the conversations he had with his brother Hardik and reminded him about the number of IPL titles they have had in the last decade.

“When I joined RCB, I said that I loved winning trophies. After three and a half months, glad I was able to fulfil what I said on Day 1. Been pretty good – 10 years, 4 IPL trophies. I also told Hardik on the phone that there will be 9 IPL trophies in the Pandya household in 11 years,” Krunal said in the post-match presentation.

In his memorable outing, Krunal returned with the priceless scalps of Prabhsimran Singh (26) and Josh Inglis (39) to derail Punjab’s attempts to chase the target. The trick behind Krunal’s success was deceiving the batters by varying his pace and having the “guts” to execute it because it leaves the bowler with no margin of error.

“When we batted in the first innings, I was sitting outside and chatting with the batters. I realised the slower you bowl, the better. But in this format, as a bowler, you need guts to do that because the margin of error is small,” he said.

“I just backed myself and thought that if I’m able to vary my pace and keep it more on the slower side, I’ll create chances rather than just coming and firing it in. What has been my biggest strength is learning what the situation requires. I’ve always backed my gut and instinct,” he added with 25 scalps in 15 matches at an average of 19.52, best figures of 4/41.