"They are looking like a team that can go ahead and lift the trophy" - Aakash Chopra on RCB after IPL 2025 win vs CSK

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) seem to be a team that can go ahead and lift the IPL 2025 trophy. He highlighted that the franchise is not getting hampered by injuries because the replacement players are performing as well as the first-choice ones.

RCB beat the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by two runs in Match 52 of IPL 2025 in Bengaluru on Saturday, May 3. They posted 213/5 after being asked to bat first and then restricted the visitors to 211/5.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener reckoned that RCB could end their trophy drought in IPL 2025, highlighting that everything is going in their favor.

"When you look at the season in totality, you say this and that is going right. Injuries happen, and you become weak, but whoever comes does well. Josh Hazlewood wasn't available. Lungi Ngidi came and picked up three wickets. He first dismissed Sam Curran and then picked up two more wickets, Ayush Mhatre on 94 and Dewald Brevis for zero," Chopra said (1:15).

"Phil Salt wasn't there. Jacob Bethell came and batted as incredibly. He scored runs at a strike rate of 170. Krunal Pandya was having a good day, but you took a gamble with Suyash Sharma because MS Dhoni had come. He bowled a six-run over. There was a no-ball in the end, but you won the match despite that. They are looking like a team that can go ahead and lift the trophy," he added.

With 16 points from 11 games, RCB are perched atop the points table. They will hope to finish in the top two after the league phase to book a spot in Qualifier 1.

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"He didn't let them feel the absence of Phil Salt" - Aakash Chopra lauds Jacob Bethell's knock in RCB's IPL 2025 win vs CSK

Jacob Bethell scored an enterprising half-century in RCB's IPL 2025 clash against CSK. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's batting in Saturday's game, Aakash Chopra noted that Jacob Bethell (55 off 33) made up for Phil Salt's absence and Virat Kohli (62 off 33) continued his consistent run in IPL 2025.

"Jacob Bethell, the way he started, he didn't let them feel the absence of Phil Salt. He is a good batter, but he is not an opener. He bats down the order, but he was made to open, and he gets set there. Virat Kohli has hit a fourth consecutive half-century and is batting very fast," he said (2:25) in the same video.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Romario Shepherd took the CSK attack to the cleaners after RCB had suffered a mini-collapse.

"The wagon stopped in the middle. Here comes Romario Shepherd. He did what he did against Anrich Nortje at the Wankhede while playing for Mumbai. He hit Khaleel Ahmed for 33 runs in an over. 54 runs were scored in the last two overs. Romario Shepherd's storm suddenly changed the game," Chopra observed.

Romario Shepherd walked out to bat when RCB were reduced to 157/5 after 17.4 overs. The Caribbean all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 53 off 14 deliveries to take the home team to 213, which proved just enough.