India, June 7 -- The 2025 Indian Premier League season ended with Royal Challengers Bengaluru ending an 18-year wait for the title. Rajat Patidar's RCB defeated Punjab Kings by six runs in a close final, thus lifting the trophy for the first time in the franchise's history. The season also saw a highly improved outing from the Mumbai Indians, who qualified for the playoffs under Hardik Pandya's captaincy; they lost to PBKS in the Qualifier 2. However, the fortunes didn't improve for the Chennai Super Kings, as they ended the campaign with a wooden spoon, registering only four losses.

All three franchises - RCB, MI, and CSK - feature three of the stalwarts of Indian cricket. While Virat Kohli made an efficient contribution to RCB's title-...