Top News

The defending champions of the IPL, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), eliminated the five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) by securing a 2-wicket win in a thrilling contest in Raipur on Sunday. This win also helped the team to move to the top of the points table, sitting at the top with seven wins in their 11 matches so far. 

It was a low-scoring match on a good wicket, where batters scored runs after settling at the crease, and bowlers grabbed wickets by hitting at the right areas. RCB spin bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya emerged as the lone warrior for the team. He played a match-winning knock with his hamstring, standing tall against all the adversity to secure the win. The left-handed batter was seen screaming in pain but still kept going for the win.

Also Read: 'Let Him Die Of Cramps': Fans Demand Action After S Badrinath’s Comment During Krunal Pandya Injury During RCB vs MI IPL 2026 Clash - Watch  

The all-rounder was promoted to number 5 for batting on Sunday after RCB lost their three crucial wickets inside the powerplay. Krunal took the first two balls to get the grip of the length and pitch, and he smoked the third ball for a big six and never stopped. He played cautiously and smashed the first half-century of the season, ending his figures on 73 off 46 deliveries, including 4 fours and 5 sixes.

Virat Kohli was in awe of Krunal Pandya’s resilient knock. After the match, when players and coaches gathered in the dressing room for the speech, Virat Kohli was invited by Andy Flower to deliver a speech, and he immediately started praising Krunal Pandya for his knock. He labelled this knock as his best IPL so far. 

During the dressing room speech, Virat Kohli said: 

“KP, it's your best IPL knock so far. You're struggling with bouncing balls hitting you, you know, keeping low, bouncing up. But you never made an excuse. You just showed us how to grind, how to stay in there, find a solution, find a way.”

He further added:

“And even when you were cramping, those two sixes were actually the difference in the game where you could have easily said I can't carry on. But, you know, you found the strength to carry on for the team. So, we can take a lot of inspiration from that. I think it was amazing. It was a match-winning knock for us. The way he was cramping but still batting, hitting sixes .”

Watch the clip here: