Nehal Wadhera takes the blame for PBKS defeat in IPL final, reveals what went wrong

It has been almost a week since IPL 2025 wrapped up with a new champion in Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The Rajat Patidar-led side won the final and lifted their maiden IPL trophy by defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by only 6 runs.

Kings batter Nehal Wadhera can't forget the night; even today he blames himself for the loss PBKS suffered. In a fresh conversation, the middle-order batter expressed the emotions he is containing in his heart from that night when PBKS lost by only 6 runs.

Batting first, Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored 190 on the scoreboard thanks to Virat Kohli's forty-plus runs and some cameos in the middle order. PBKS started the innings well with Priyansh Arya, but soon a stunning catch near the boundary rope by Phil Salt tilted the momentum of the high-octane match. And it was not Virat or Rajat Patidar; it was Krunal Pandya's tight bowling that couldn't allow Punjab batters to score runs in a quick manner.

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That night was for RCB

Nehal, who is known for his hard hitting, could not push the paddles at the right time to speed up the run rate. The southpaw scored just 15 (18) with a lone six. Supporters of PBKS criticized the batters, including Wadhera, for batting with a relatively slow run rate. Only Shashank Singh's brilliant innings of 61 (30) kept the relevance in the battle. But that was not enough to chase 190.

Blaming himself, Nehal Wadhera said, "I totally blame myself for the IPL 2025 Final. If I had played better, we could've won the IPL. Earlier in the tournament, when I had to accelerate, I did it, and it paid off except for the last game."

Apart from the final match, Wadhera had a decent run in IPL 2025, scoring 369 runs in 16 innings.