Krunal Pandya

Drake bet $750,000 on RCB to win IPL 2025, how much did he pocket from it? | Cricket News

Danijones2 days ago04 mins

Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Drake On a night when history was written in gold for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, it wasn’t just the team and their fans celebrating. Global rap superstar Drake had his own reason to raise a toast. The Canadian artist won a staggering $1.3 million (around 11 crore) after placing a daring $750,000 (approx. 6.4 crore) bet on RCB to win the IPL 2025 final and they delivered.RCB defeated Punjab Kings by six runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, finally ending an 18-year-long wait for the title. It was a nervy, emotional, and unforgettable night, one that may also have finally broken the infamous ‘Drake Curse’ in sport.Asked to bat first, RCB managed a fighting total of 190/9 despite never quite shifting gears. Virat Kohli led the scoring with a gritty 43 off 35 balls, while cameos from Mayank Agarwal (24), Rajat Patidar (26), and Liam Livingstone (25) ensured the innings didn’t collapse. Phil Salt’s early dismissal slowed momentum, and Punjab’s Kyle Jamieson applied further pressure with three crucial wickets.The death overs saw a mini fightback, with Jitesh Sharma’s 24 off 10 briefly threatening to tilt the game, but RCB fell short of a par total on what remained a good batting surface. Arshdeep Singh ended the innings with a clinical final over, picking up three wickets and limiting RCB’s acceleration. ‘A particularly special feeling’: Andy Flower hails Virat Kohli, RCB after historic title win What followed was a tense defence. Josh Hazlewood set the tone with the early wicket of Priyansh Arya, brilliantly supported by Phil Salt’s stunning boundary catch. Prabhsimran Singh (26) and Josh Inglis (39 off 23) kept Punjab alive, but regular wickets derailed their chase. Krunal Pandya’s miserly 4-0-17-2 and Romario Shepherd’s prized scalp of captain Shreyas Iyer swung momentum decisively in RCB’s favour.Still, Punjab fought. Shashank Singh’s valiant 61* off 30 balls brought them close, needing 29 off the final over. But Hazlewood held his nerve, delivering back-to-back dot balls to end the drama. PBKS closed on 184/7 — heartbreak once again for the perennial underachievers.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?Drake’s bet, placed on crypto-betting platform Stake at 1.75 odds, stood out for more than its value. Known for inadvertently jinxing athletes and teams with his public support — the so-called ‘Drake Curse’ — fans feared the worst for RCB after learning of the wager. From Serena Williams to Conor McGregor, teams backed by the rapper often fell just short.But on this night, cricket proved to be the exception. RCB fans may have started uneasy, but by the end, even they were thanking Drake for his faith.

RCB’s Man Friday: Krunal Pandya turns IPL final on its head | Cricket News

Danijones3 days ago07 mins

Krunal Pandya (IPL Photo) TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: With the bat, ball, or in the field, Krunal Pandya has always produced magic for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in this year’s IPL. Krunal was the engine on which the RCB team functioned throughout the season, and it was the 34-year-old who played a pivotal role in ending Bengaluru’s long 18-year wait.Krunal picked up the crucial wickets of Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis and gave away only 17 runs from his four-over quota. He was introduced after the powerplay and squeezed Punjab Kings’ run flow, bowling 12 dot balls — which proved to be gold dust for RCB in their quest for a first title.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The lone boundary Krunal conceded was the six Josh Inglis hit on the first ball of his third over, but he came back brilliantly in the next five balls, conceding just a single. He bowled flat, quick, and varied his pace to perfection, leaving the Punjab Kings’ batters at sea while facing him. ‘A particularly special feeling’: Andy Flower hails Virat Kohli, RCB after historic title win Who’s that IPL player?“When we batted in the first innings, I was sitting outside and chatting with batters. I realised the slower you bowl, the better,” he said at the post-match presentation.“But in this format, as a bowler, you need guts to do that because the margin of error is small. I just backed myself and thought that if I’m able to vary my pace and keep it more on the slower side, I’ll create chances rather than just coming and firing it in.“What has been my biggest strength is learning what the situation requires. I’ve always backed my gut and instinct. Today also, I realised if I have to take a couple of wickets, I have to be brave. If you bowled quick on that surface, it would’ve been a good batting wicket. But if you varied your pace, there was some help.”Virat Kohli showered praise on Krunal and called his spell game-changing in the final.“Krunal Pandya’s spell will be remembered for a long time. He made the difference in this final.” Poll Which quality do you think makes Krunal Pandya a ‘big-match player’? Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting pointed out that it was Krunal’s spell where his team lost momentum.“Krunal Pandya did an exceptional job with the overs that he bowled,” Ponting told reporters after the match.“The game was starting to slip away around the 11th, 12th, and 13th overs, and the hole got too big,” he said while referring to Krunal’s fantastic spell.Not only Ponting, Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer also credited Krunal for his exceptional bowling performance.“They bowled brilliantly, especially Krunal. He carries a lot of experience; he has done it over a period of time. I believe that was the turning point,” said Shreyas. ‘Daring, Dynamic, Different’: Ponting hails PBKS young guns despite final loss This was Krunal’s fourth IPL title, and he has played a significant role in winning two IPL finals.Interestingly, it was not the first time Krunal Pandya turned an IPL final on its head. In 2017, playing for Mumbai Indians against Rising Pune Supergiant, Krunal played an exceptional 38-ball 47 in a low-scoring final in Hyderabad. He now becomes the first player to win the Player of the Match award in two IPL finals.Krunal finished the season with 17 wickets and 109 runs. But those numbers don’t tell the full story of his contribution to RCB.Let’s jog down memory lane. On April 27 in New Delhi, the southpaw was struggling. He was going nowhere in his innings, Mitchell Starc was troubling him with searing pace, and Dushmantha Chameera then cracked him on the helmet with a short ball. Krunal had 25 off 28 and looked utterly stuck, with RCB needing 84 off 46.He hit 48 off his last 19 balls and steered his team to a comfortable six-wicket win with nine balls to spare.RCB head coach Andy Flower called him a big-match player this season.“Krunal is a big-match player and a great competitor,” he said at the press conference.Indeed, Krunal has been a warrior for RCB throughout this season and, in the truest sense, has been Bengaluru’s “Man Friday.”

Krunal Pandya spills beans about conversation with brother Hardik after RCB’s maiden IPL triumph

Danijones3 days ago04 mins

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Krunal Pandya being presented an award during the presentation ceremony of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI Krunal Pandya, who was named Player of the Match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 18th edition final against Punjab Kings, revealed that he called his brother Hardik after the game and cited that the Pandya household has nine IPL trophies in 11 years. Krunal, who Bengaluru acquired for ₹5.75 crore, unleashed every weapon from his fully-loaded arsenal in the high-stakes final and left the spectators spellbound and returning with figures of 2/17 in his four-over spell. He single-handedly broke the backbone of Punjab’s attempt to hunt down the 191-run target and steered Bengaluru to a six-run triumph and RCB’s first IPL trophy victory. While receiving the Player of the Match award, Krunal spilt the beans about the conversations he had with his brother Hardik and reminded him about the number of IPL titles they have had in the last decade. “When I joined RCB, I said that I loved winning trophies. After three and a half months, glad I was able to fulfil what I said on Day 1. Been pretty good – 10 years, 4 IPL trophies. I also told Hardik on the phone that there will be 9 IPL trophies in the Pandya household in 11 years,” Krunal said in the post-match presentation. In his memorable outing, Krunal returned with the priceless scalps of Prabhsimran Singh (26) and Josh Inglis (39) to derail Punjab’s attempts to chase the target. The trick behind Krunal’s success was deceiving the batters by varying his pace and having the “guts” to execute it because it leaves the bowler with no margin of error. “When we batted in the first innings, I was sitting outside and chatting with the batters. I realised the slower you bowl, the better. But in this format, as a bowler, you need guts to do that because the margin of error is small,” he said. “I just backed myself and thought that if I’m able to vary my pace and keep it more on the slower side, I’ll create chances rather than just coming and firing it in. What has been my biggest strength is learning what the situation requires. I’ve always backed my gut and instinct,” he added with 25 scalps in 15 matches at an average of 19.52, best figures of 4/41. Published – June 04, 2025 05:22 am IST

After IPL 2025 win, Krunal Pandya reveals telephone chat with brother Hardik Pandya | Cricket News

Danijones3 days ago03 mins

Krunal Pandya (BCCI/IPL Photo) NEW DELHI: Krunal Pandya delivered a Player of the Match performance to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.Picked up by RCB for Rs 5.75 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction, Krunal brought out his full arsenal, refusing to let Punjab Kings gain control during their chase.His spell of 2 for 17, which included the crucial wickets of Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis, proved to be a game-changer and played a key role in RCB’s six-run victory.Krunal later revealed that he had set his intentions clearly with the franchise during his very first conversation — he was there to win trophies — and he made good on that promise with a match-defining performance.“When we batted, we realised the slower you bowl, the better it is. In this format, you need guts to do it. I just backed myself and thought I’d vary my pace and keep it on the slower side more often. My biggest strength has been to learn what the situation requires. I knew I had to be brave to get wickets tonight. Thought I’d do that by bowling slow. If you’d have bowled quick, it’d have been a good wicket. But if you mixed it up, it was tougher. Pitch actually got easier in the second innings,” said Krunal while collecting the POTM trophy.“Have enjoyed my time with RCB so far. I told them on day one that I like to win trophies. I told Hardik too that the Pandya household will have nine trophies in 11 years,” he added. Krunal now has four IPL titles to his name — three with Mumbai Indians — and Tuesday’s performance marked the second time he has won the Player of the Match award in an IPL final. The first came in 2017, when he scored 47 off 38 balls to help Mumbai Indians defeat the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant.