IPL Final: The Indian Premier League, for all its statistical bravado and choreographed dazzle, remains a game of human limits. On Tuesday, those limits may come into play for Punjab Kings as they prepare to meet Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2025 final at Ahmedabad’s colossal Narendra Modi Stadium.
Punjab Kings At A Disadvantage in IPL Final: Sunil Gavaskar
Speaking ahead of the match, former cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar offered a typically tempered observation: Punjab, he noted, may have spent themselves before the contest has even begun. Having only just emerged from the fray of a strenuous Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians—completed, notably, in the small hours—PBKS now face the near-impossible task of restoring both body and spirit before facing a side that has not so much as broken a sweat in four days.
“It helps, no question,” Gavaskar said in an interview. “For Punjab, that short window between matches—24 hours, maybe a little more—is barely enough for the body to recalibrate. It’s not just about fatigue. It’s about rhythm, mental sharpness, readiness. And Bengaluru have had the better end of that equation.”
Check Out: RCB vs PBKS Final Prediction
Indeed, the contrast in trajectories could not be starker. While PBKS have fought through the grinder—upending Gujarat in the league stage, and Mumbai in a draining knockout—RCB have strolled in, dispatching the same Punjab side in Qualifier 1 with clinical ease. Gavaskar, unsurprisingly, places less stock in the notional “home advantage” of PBKS having played at Ahmedabad already this season.
“Familiarity helps, but form matters more,” he said. “This is a team [RCB] in rhythm. They’re not going to be fazed by a venue they haven’t visited. Momentum has a way of flattening unfamiliarity.”
Punjab may draw solace from the past—two wins at this venue this season, including Sunday’s—but cricket rarely trades in sentiment. The records tell us that RCB will be appearing in their fourth final, their first since 2016, still seeking a maiden title after near-misses in 2009 and 2011. Punjab’s last—and only—final was over a decade ago, a narrow defeat to Kolkata.
As the clock ticks toward another first ball under lights, the final may hinge less on reputation than recuperation. Form and freshness are strange bedfellows. But only one team, it seems, is bringing both to the table.
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