IPL 2025: A new champion, a precocious 14-year-old and other key takeaways

The 2025 IPL, as it turned 18, was perhaps just what the doctor ordered for the league. A new champion, a precocious 14-year-old turning the heads with a 35-ball century, plenty of thrills ‘n spills provided for some refreshing takeaways – the only jolt being when the league had to be suspended for a week with rising tension at the India-Pakistan border.

Here is a look at the five top talking points in the league which ended with Royal Challengers Bangalore pipping a spirited Punjab Kings to become the eighth team in history to have won the cash-rich league. This leaves with two: Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants without a trophy so far.  

Kohli & RCB end a long wait

It was a heartening feature for the league that RCB, which enjoys a global following at par with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, finally ended their drought on Tuesday. Much as cricket may be a team sport, the saga of one-franchise man Virat Kohli ending his 18-year wait is being likened in the social media to that of Sachin Tendulkar taking 22 years to win the elusive ICC World Cup or Leo Messi vindicating his reputation with the Qatar World Cup.

 An over-the-top comparison, given the scale of the events, but the wait was certainly as agonising. Kohli’s consistent performance throughout the tournament — 657 runs in 15 innings with eight fifties to end as the third highest scorer in the tournament was instrumental in RCB success but there were other factors as well. Rajat Patidar, a 32-year-old journeyman, was unaffected by the pressures of captaincy and rallied around his troops extremely well while Phil Salt proved a lucky mascot with back-to-back trophies on his IPL debut (with KKR last year).

 The pace bowling department, which had caused them enough headache – especially in defending totals – looked sorted with the return of Josh Hazlewood and Bhubaneshwar Kumar bringing all his experience into play. Krunal Pandya, meanwhile, provided the X-factor as a spinning allrounder.

Shreyas Iyer: A future white ball captain?

It was heartbreaking for the Punjab Kings team, which prospered under the guidance of head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer, to fall short by six runs in the final. Shreyas had a standout season, steering his side to the top of the league and into their second IPL final with 604 runs, including a heroic 87 against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2.
 Ponting, who had collaborated with an younger Iyer during their Delhi Capitals days, endorsed his development: “He has grown as a person, as a player and a leader.” Once touted as a future white ball captain of India, Shreyas has led three different IPL teams to finals and at 30, looks the best bet to take over the role from an ageing Rohit Sharma or Suryakumar Yadav in not-so-distant future.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi: Is he really 14?
Rajasthan Royals may have had a forgettable season despite bringing back Rahul Dravid as coach, but teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest-ever IPL player —immediately grabbing global headlines. The 14-year-old announced himself with a six off his very first ball and soon followed it with a blistering 35-ball century, the second-fastest in IPL history.
  The power he packs in his shots and the shape that he holds makes him a worthwhile investment for the Royals at Rs 1.1 crores, though there are doubters in his state Bihar’s cricket community itself about his age. After a few quiet innings following the century, Vaibhav eventually finished the season with a mature 57 in his final game. Come 2026, he and Yashasvi Jaiswal could be the opening pair to watch out for.

Pant, Venkatesh Iyer most expensive flops

Talk about Return on Investment (RoI) in business parlance, Lucknow Super Giants’ new captain Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crores) and Kolkata Knight Riders vice captain Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 cr) were simply disasters – period.

 Pant, who became the most expensive player of IPL, struggled with form and leadership and contributed only 269 runs from 13 innings. The returns could have been worse but for Pant’s late flourish with a 118 against RCB, while Venkatesh plodded on for a measley 142 runs with an average of 20.2.
 While Pant the wicketkeeper-batter gets a chance to immediately redeem himself as the Test vice captain in England, Venkatesh will have to start from scratch.

Geopolitical tension halts play

The IPL was suspended on May 9 following the cross-border conflict between India and Pakistan. A match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala had to be abandoned as air raid sirens rang out during the game and military tensions escalated.

Players were evacuated via train after airspace closures and the tournament only resumed on May 17 under a temporary ceasefire. Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, among those caught in the disruption, chose not to return. The final was delayed by a week for circumstances beyond the BCCI’s control – but then, it’s been a case of all’s well that ends well.