Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won their first IPL title after 18 years, defeating Punjab Kings in a thrilling final. The victory brought a 20 crore prize and ended RCB's long title drought, fulfilling Virat Kohli's dream.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally realised their dream of lifting the IPL trophy. After 18 years and four IPL finals, the RCB ended their long drought of winning an IPL title by defeating Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered a thrilling six-run victory over Punjab Kings to take home their first-ever IPL Trophy, which had eluded them since the first season of the tournament in 2008. The IPL title was not just important for RCB, but also for their long-time stalwart, Virat Kohli, who has been with the franchise for the last 18 years. When RCB reached the final last time in 2016, Kohli was the captain, and now, he has realized his dream as a player.
After posting a total of 190, RCB managed to defend it by restricting PBKS to 184/7 in 20 overs, despite a valiant innings of 61 off 30 balls by Shashank Singh. Krunal Pandya led the bowling attack with figures of 2/17 in four overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar too picked two wickets while conceding 38 runs in four overs, while Josh Hazlewood, Romario Shepherd, and Yash Dayal picked a wicket each.
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RCB takes home 20 crore as the winners’ prize money
As champions of the IPL 2025, Royal Challengers Bengaluru walked away not only with their first-ever IPL trophy but also a huge paycheck, as they were rewarded with INR 20 crore from the BCCI. This marked a memorable culmination to their 18-year wait to clinch the elusive IPL title. Bengaluru became the first team since Gujarat Titans in 2022 to be crowned as the new champions of the Indian Premier League.
The prize money structure of the Indian Premier League has remained the same since 2022, when Gujarat Titans became the first team to earn the winning prize money of INR 20 crore. Over the years, the prize money of the IPL has increased over the years. In the inaugural season of the tournament, the Rajasthan Royals received INR 4.8 crore as the winners' prize money, while Chennai Super Kings took home INR 2.4 crore as cash reward for finishing as the runners-up.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings, who finished the season as the runners-up, received 12.5 crore as a cash reward. Mumbai Indians will take home 7 crore, while Gujarat Titans earned 6.5 crore for finishing the season in the Qualifier and Eliminator stages, respectively.
Other individual prize money in IPL 2025
Gujarat Titans opener Sai Sudharsan won Emerging Player of the Season and Orange Cap Winner (highest run-getter of the season), earning him 20 lakh and 10 lakh, respectively. Gujarat Titans pacer Prasidh Krishna was rewarded with 10 lakh for winning the Purple Cap (highest wicket-taker of the season).
Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav was awarded Most Valuable Player of the Season, along with a cash reward of 10 lakh. Lucknow Super Giants vice-captain Nicholas Pooran earned 10 lakh for winning the Most Maximums of the Season award. Rajasthan Royals' young batting sensation was rewarded with a cash prize of 10 lakh for winning the Super Striker of the Season.
The IPL 2025 has come to an end with Royal Challengers Bengaluru culminating their campaign in the most fitting way possible — by finally lifting their maiden IPL trophy and etching their name in the history books.
