Bengaluru V Punjab: Can Virat Kohli Break 18-Year IPL Curse? First Sports With Rupha Ramani
Bengaluru V Punjab: Can Virat Kohli Break 18-Year IPL Curse? | First Sports With Rupha Ramani | N18G
The IPL 2025 Final is finally here — and it's a showdown no one saw coming: Bengaluru V Punjab. Two franchises with passionate fan bases and years of heartbreak now face off for their maiden Indian Premier League title. Bengaluru, led by the ever-determined Virat Kohli, is chasing glory after 18 long years of waiting. With emotions running high and superstition in the air — including fans conducting havans and chanting "Ee Sala Cup Namde" — this final carries more weight than most. Meanwhile, Punjab fans are already celebrating their first final in over a decade, but will they go all the way? Rupha Ramani breaks down the historical context, legacy moments, fan emotions, and why this final could mark the beginning of a new era in IPL history.
See More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Getting pacers ready for five-Test series out of IPL tricky: Morne Morkel
Speaking on his workload and Kamboj's not so impressive debut so far, the bowling coach said, "England, they've got a powerful batting line-up. As a batter, your initial first 20 balls is very crucial. And, you know, in terms of a guy who's accurate and asking those questions, he's Booms. So, he's going to be asked a lot of times to come in and do the job for us. I think as the spearhead of the attack, that's also a responsibility that he's not shying away from. He wants to make the impact. At times today, we lacked that little bit of energy on the ball. And that was maybe for the reasons where we wanted to push Siraj and Booms a little bit more because they had a little bit quicker airspeed and off the wicket a little bit to try and create those opportunities. And then with Anshul, you know, that's international cricket. And we know we support him as best as we can. But it's also for him, it's good learning." He said the team management is trying to find a place for spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who so far has not played a single game in the series, but in their quest for batting depth that has not been possible. "I think it's finding when he comes in, how can we find balance and how can we get that batting line-up to be a little bit longer and stronger. We've seen in the past that we've lost a lot of wickets and Kuldeep is world-class and he's bowling really well at the moment. So we're trying our best to find ways for him to get in. But unfortunately, with that, just the balance with the batting throws it out a little bit." Morkel said the five-match series is a real test for fast bowlers and getting them ready for it straight after the IPL is an issue. "It's a real test. We play three, two Test match series a lot and this is now our first time in a while where we've come to five. It shouldn't be an excuse, but in terms of condition, getting our guys conditioned and getting them ready for five Test match series coming straight out of the IPL is sometimes an issue because you have to balance between Test matches, getting these guys a good amount of recovery time but also to keep their bowling loads up. And that's why it's important for us to look at the future and get a good core of five, six bowlers that we can rotate and these guys can come in and they can do the job. "At the moment, there's not a lot of experience with the ball. We've got Siraj, we've got Booms that played a handful of Tests and then Akash has played a little bit but he's out injured. So we keep on finding ways to bring new guys in that's learning now their international cricket, learning their trade in international cricket. So it is not easy at the moment, but this is just a phase, a period that we need now to work through and get these guys fitter and stronger to last for the five Tests." Probed further on Kamboj's speed, Morkel said, "If you look, I wish I could give you that answer, because I would have told him then how to bowl quicker, but he arrived here, he bowled well in the nets, and then obviously we went with what I discussed earlier. Why are speeds so low? I mean, yeah, that is something that we're working on. But he was definitely quicker when you saw him at the India A games. Yeah, again, he was definitely quicker, and in some of the games back home, he was definitely higher." Morkel cleared doubts on fitness of Siraj and Bumrah and said both are okay. "Unfortunately when we took the second new ball, Bumrah rolled his ankles going down the stairs. Siraj also, I think, rolled his foot in one of the footholds. But they seemed to be okay."
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
Morkel defends under-fire Indian bowlers, says playing five Tests right after IPL a challenge: 'It's a real test'
India bowling coach Morne Morkel also felt the Jasprit Bumrah-led attack performed much better on Day 3 of the fourth Test against England in Manchester, and came to the defence of debutant Anshul Kamboj, who has been criticised for his underwhelming pace. read more India bowling coach Morke Morkel defended the performance of the Jasprit Bumrah-led bowling unit after the third day's play in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford. AP India bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted his bowlers are struggling to make an impact in the crucial fourth Test against England in Manchester, but felt playing a five-match Test series in England right after two months of the Indian Premier League was always going to be a challenge. Morkel reacted to India's dismal bowling performance on Day 3 at Old Trafford, which allowed England to end the day on a commanding 544/7. Joe Root headlined their dominant batting performance with a majestic 150 while four others, including captain Ben Stokes (77 not out), scored fifties. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For India, spin-bowling all-rounders Washington Sundar (2/57) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/117) lead the way with a couple of wickets each while the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah (1/95), Mohammed Siraj (1/113) and debutant Anshul Kamboj (1/89) collected a wicket each. 'It's a real test. We play three Test match series a lot and this is now our first time in a while we've done this with five. It shouldn't be excused, but in terms of conditioning, getting our guys conditioned and getting them ready for five Test series coming straight up after IPL, is sometimes an issue,' Morkel told reporters during the press conference after stumps. 'Much better today with the ball' The former South African pacer, however, added that the Indians bowled a lot better on the 'Moving Day' than they did on Thursday, when England had raced to 225/2 at stumps after following a 166-run opening stand between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. 'Much better today with the ball. I thought yesterday was a tough day for us in the office. We missed our lines, putting us slightly on the back foot, but I thought the way the boys responded this morning, especially Siraj and Bumrah with the ball, was good to see. 'And yeah, from there, you know, we tried our best with trying to create opportunities on a wicket played better than the first couple of days. Discipline and holding those lines were key. And that was something I think we missed on day one,' he added. Morkel also confirmed Bumrah and Siraj did suffer injury scares on Day 3, but were ultimately fine. 'Yeah, unfortunately, when we took the second new ball, Booms rolled his ankles going down the stairs. And then Siraj also, I think, rolled his foot in one of the footholds. But they seemed to be okay,' he continued. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Morkel extends support to debutant Kamboj As for Kamboj, who replaced the injured Akash Deep in the XI, clocking underwhelming speeds under 125kmph at Old Trafford on international debut, Morkel felt it was a learning curve for the 24-year-old Haryana pacer. 'Unfortunately, there's no place to hide. And, you know, we support him as best as we can, through conversations. But it's also for him, it's good learning. 'And I think everybody in the dressing room is constantly telling him to keep going and supporting him. That's part of international cricket, it's good to get a taste for it and know, moving forward, what he needs to do to play at this level. 'So, you know, it's through good conversations and just keep on supporting him. He can definitely bowl quicker,' Morkel added.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Ex-MI Teammate On Reason Behind Rohit Sharma's Test Retirement: "He Would've Known..."
Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard spoke on former Indian Test skipper Rohit Sharma's retirement from the longest format. He believes that Sharma, having achieved a lot, knows what he wants for his career and emphasised that Hitman's pride in his performance will always be a driving factor. Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket in May this year, bringing down the curtain on a remarkable journey in whites. He will continue to captain India in ODIs. "It is a personal decision and he would have known why he [Rohit Sharma] wanted to do it. As an individual who has accomplished so much in cricket, he has it within himself to understand and know what he wants going forward. Again, pride of performance is always going to be there." Pollard told ANI. "He's still going to represent India in the 50-over format of cricket. I don't see him changing the hunger and desire not to score runs. He wants to come out and perform and do well," Pollard added. Pollard also expressed his joy in reuniting with former teammates and friends in the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025. He highlighted the excitement of being competitive again and looks forward to these opportunities. "It feels great, again, reconnecting with your old teammates, old friends, persons that you don't see on a daily basis, you get an opportunity to be competitive again, it's just fantastic and we look forward to it," Pollard told ANI. West Indies Champions Team owner Ajay Sethi praised his team's players, highlighting their success in the IPL and T20 formats. He mentioned their wins against England and expressed confidence in their upcoming match against Pakistan. "They have been greatest player of IPL and T20 format, their records and their performance speaks for itself, this is my best team on the paper and they're performing, they won the England game and then we had the game against Australia, we have a big game tomorrow with Pakistan, I'm very confident that we will definitely go to perform and win the game," Sethi told ANI. West Indies Champions will take on Pakistan Champions in the 11th Match of WCL 2025 at Leeds on Saturday.
