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Following Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) convincing seven-wicket victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 37th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Virat Kohli displayed palpable excitement. After RCB successfully chased down the target of 158 with seven balls to spare, Kohli turned towards Shreyas and made an animated gesture, clearly expressing his elation at the win.
After Kohli's wild celebration Shreyas approached the former RCB captain, and the two engaged in what appeared to be a light-hearted exchange, with Kohli visibly in high spirits. Nehal Wadhera struck a six over mid-wicket, securing the win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Watch Virat Kohli's wild celebration facing Shreyas Iyer
It was perfect revenge for RCB as just a few days back Punjab Kings had secured a five-wicket victory over Bengaluru in a rain-affected 14-over contest at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In that encounter, Virat Kohli was dismissed cheaply by Arshdeep Singh, contributing to RCB's third consecutive loss at their home ground. However, in this recent match, Kohli made a stunning comeback, scoring an unbeaten 73 runs off 54 balls, which included seven boundaries and one six to help RCB chase down the 158-run target.
This win propelled RCB to third spot in the IPL 2025 points table with a total of 10 points and a healthy net run rate of +0.472, achieved through five wins in their eight matches played. Meanwhile, PBKS slipped to fourth position in the standings.
This is what Kohli said after his match-winning knock which earned him the Player of the Match award:
"Very important game for us. 2 points can make a massive difference in terms of qualification. We have played some amazing cricket away from home. When you go from eight to ten (points), it makes a massive difference in the points table. The mindset has to be to get 2 points in every game. I wanted to accelerate more. I thought Dev made a difference today, this award should go to him, I don't know why they have given it to me. I try to stay there, holding one end up and try to accelerate later. There always is a temptation to keep going in the same way," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
"Last game was a shortened game, so we had to go hard (against PBKS.) We had to analyse the pitch in Rajasthan. One partnership is good enough in T20 cricket during run chase. I can accelerate, but I want to understand the strengths of other players. Holding one end up at the moment, that's working for us. It was a very good auction for us, we got a good team. These guys were composed (after the auction.) Guys like David, Jitesh, Patidar, the roles they are playing. It's coming off nicely. Also Romario coming in for us today. Livingstone's also there. That was missing over the last seasons. Guys can keep counter-attacking, the guys are hungry. You can see that intensity on the field as they are diving around. That is really pleasing to see. When you play like that, your chances of winning are better," he added.
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