‘If winning once is so tough, then imagine winning five times’ – Former CSK star’s bold take on RCB's maiden IPL title

Published - 19 Aug 2025, 12:20 IST | Updated - 19 Aug 2025, 12:45 IST

Former Chennai Super Kings player Ambati Rayudu feels Royal Challengers Bengaluru will now realise how difficult it is to win the Indian Premier League title, having won their maiden trophy in the 18th installment of the tournament. RCB finally ended their prolonged wait for the IPL title by winning the title in 2025. Rayudu opined that RCB will start valuing the efforts taken by teams like CSK, who have won five titles in the same competition.

“It felt really good. Now RCB knows how difficult it is to win the IPL and how much harder it is to win it five times. See, if winning once is so tough, then imagine how tough it is to win five times. So, it is good that they understood what it takes to win. It’s good, right? Now they will also calm down. RCB will calm down. They have entered the winners’ club, so they will calm down,” shared Rayudu during a conversation with internet personality Shubhankar Mishra.

Rayudu also commented on how RCB understood the value of sticking to a fixed team instead of shuffling players in and out of their XI, which eventually paid dividends.

“This year, RCB figured it out (not making too many changes). They consistently played the same team according to their plans and players. Look at how finishers like Jitesh (Sharma) came through, and Tim David also played well; that was a combination. RCB finally understood after so many years, and that’s very good, because every year, each team keeps getting better, so the competition is improving," he added.

RCB emerged victorious by defeating Punjab Kings in the final of IPL 2025 in Ahmedabad in June earlier this year. Before this, they had appeared in three summit clashes (2009, 2011, 2016) but failed to clinch silverware.

Ali on RCB tried to sack Virat Kohli as captain in 2019

Virat Kohli (657 runs in 15 innings) and Josh Hazlewood (22 wickets in 12 innings) were the standout performers for RCB in their title-winning season. Phil Salt, skipper Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played vital roles too.