IPL 2025 | "I want to understand the strengths of other players": Virat Kohli

RCB’s Devdutt Padikkal (left) and Virat Kohli against Punjab Kings yesterday. Pic/PTI

The stylish Devdutt Padikkal blossomed under the able guidance of peerless Virat Kohli as Royal Challengers Bengaluru exacted a sweet revenge on Punjab Kings, keeping their all-away-win record intact with an easy seven-wicket victory in an IPL match here on Sunday.

Having lost the rain-curtailed home match to Punjab Kings on Friday, RCB turned the tables within less than 48 hours, chasing down a target of 158 without much ado in just 18.5 overs to enter the top four in the points table. Southpaw Padikkal (61 off 35 balls) scored his first IPL half-century in 22 innings. Kohli scored an unbeaten on 73 off 54 balls. The duo added 103 in 11.3 overs.

Kohli said the strategy of him holding one end tight while others play in their usual aggressive style is working well for RCB. "I thought Dev [Padikkal] made a difference today, this award should go to him, I don't know why they have given it to me. I can accelerate, but I want to understand the strengths of other players. Holding one end up at the moment, that's working for us.

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"We've set ourselves up nicely. Dev can play around me, maybe Rajat [Patidar] can play around me. There's always a temptation to keep going the same way," said Kohli. Earlier, RCB spinners Krunal Pandya (2-25) and Suyash Sharma (2-27) bowled stifling spells to restrict Punjab to an under-par 157 for six in 20 overs.

Coach Ponting unhappy with ‘strip' tease

While Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting was disappointed with his team's batting effort that led to a seven-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru here. He highlighted the fact that his team had to play on four different pitches for their four home games so far. The Australian felt that since there was no uniform nature of the strip, the variety meant that his team needed to adjust each time it played a home game. "One thing we know about it [pitch], it doesn't offer a lot of pace and it doesn't offer a lot of bounce, and we talk about that. And to be honest, the four games we've played here, each wicket's been slightly different, so it just takes you a little bit of time to adjust," said Ponting.

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