Krunal Pandya’s remarkable turnaround to Virat Kohli’s ruthless brilliance – Top 3 RCB performers against KKR

It was a grandiloquent start to the IPL 2025 campaign as RCB rode roughshod over the defending champions, KKR. An all-round showdown from the Royal Challengers was pivotal in defining their opening chapter of the tournament. From some ingenious bowling to a dash of ruthless batting, there was every single ingredient to turn it into a masterclass. Here’s a quick look at RCB’s top-three performers against KKR in the first game of IPL 2025.

Krunal Pandya – 3/29

Pandya was smashed for 15 runs in that first over. However, he was not willing to give in to the mounting pressure. He came back strongly in the second over, producing one of those beauties that tantalized Ajinkya Rahane to go for the big pull. Rasikh Salam Dar completed a fine grab at deep backward square leg. He also induced a sense of drama when he bumped Venkatesh Iyer in his third over. A quicker ball from Pandya saw Iyer chop an angler away from off-stump onto his poles. An excellent spell concluded on an even better note when a length ball from Krunal rattled through the gates of Rinku Singh, inviting further trouble for KKR.

Phil Salt – 56 (31)

Salt stepped on the accelerator straight away from the word go. A fuller delivery from Vaibhav Arora was crunched through the covers on the very first ball faced by Salt. Spencer Johnson found himself next in the firing line of Salt as the latter pummeled another one on the rise through the covers. This was just the beginning of the madness to follow suit. Salt knew no relent and went all guns blazing in the following deliveries. He completed his half-century with a single against Varun Chakravarthy in the seventh over. Before getting out to CV Varun, he struck another boundary through the leg-side punishing the latter for a bowing a touch shorter.

Virat Kohli – 59* (36)

It was expected that Virat Kohli would be playing out an anchor in the early half of the game. However, he wanted no part of it as he switched to the offensive in the wee hours of the chase itself. He got off the mark with an immaculate show of timing, flicking Vaibhav Arora through midwicket. Arora got clobbered again through the same reason for bowling another fuller ball which was on an identical trajectory like the last boundary delivery. He shifted gears in the following over by striking two colossal and consecutive sixes against Spencer Johnson. From thereon, it was about getting the dominoes in place with occasional bursts of belligerence. He brought up his half-century with a lofted cover drive against Harshit Rana, stamping his authority. Despite not getting the strike for the last 15 runs, Kohli stayed unbeaten on 59 off 36.