Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to RCB's thrilling win vs CSK in IPL 2025 match ft. Virender Sehwag

The cricket fraternity lauded Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for their thrilling victory over their arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 52 of IPL 2025 on Saturday (May 3) in Bengaluru.

Invited to bat first, RCB were off to a stellar start with a 97-run stand between Virat Kohli (62) and Jacob Bethell (55). Then, the side lost momentum in the middle overs and looked to finish on a below-par total. However, Romario Shepherd (53* off 14) played a sensational knock to boost RCB's total to 213. Matheesha Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors with three wickets.

CSK responded well to the chase, with youngster Ayush Mhatre (94) playing a brilliant knock. However, after his dismissal, CSK were under pressure with the new batters. With 15 needed off six balls, Yash Dayal held his nerves to win the game for RCB. Lungi Ngidi was the top bowler for the home side with three wickets. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja's fighting knock of 77* off 45 balls went in vain for the Super Kings.

With this victory, RCB have reached 16 points and have qualified for the playoffs. On that note, let's take a look at the top expert reactions to their victory over CSK.

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#1 Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra shared his thoughts on RCB's win in a recent video on his YouTube channel. As per Chopra, despite some injuries to the side, the players coming in as replacements have done well for the side. He cited examples of Lungi Ngidi and Jacob Bethell and said:

"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." (1:15)

Chopra added:

"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."

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#2 Shaun Pollock

Former South Africa pacer Shaun Pollock feels RCB must be feeling something special in the dressing room this year, given they have prevailed in crunch moments on a few occasions.

"I think also what happens with the management is they'll probably go down the route of saying, guys, 'I think it's our season, if we got a jailed out twice there today. I think things might just be running for us this year.' And it's the kind of stuff you start to believe as a team. Yeah if you sneaky and get over the line in these tight ones. So, you never know, it might be just good signs for them." (2:00)

Pollock believes RCB can break their curse and finally win their maiden IPL trophy this season.

"I think this is destiny this season. I think we meant to Virat's got 18 on his back. We winning these squeaky moments and they'll try and create something out of it."

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#3 Virender Sehwag

In an interaction on Cricbuzz Live, Virender Sehwag opined that the RCB vs CSK game was a perfect movie, with all elements put together crisply. He said:

"I enjoyed watching this movie a lot. It has comedy, romance, action, thriller and suspense, whatever I asked for, I got everything. In today's match, first I felt that RCB will not score that many runs, then they hit 55 runs in two overs, then it felt like Chennai is winning one side match, then wickets fell, then it slowed down, then I felt that now we have lost because so many runs were left in three balls, then it was hit on nine balls and in the last three balls, not a single hit was taken, three singles were taken."(0:01)

"In the last three balls, one hit is needed and Chennai would have won the match but that one hit was not taken. Yash Dayal has to be praised. Once again, last year also he did the same feat in front of Dhoni and this time Dhoni's team is left in front of Jadeja and Shivam Dube," he added.

Sehwag also thinks RCB look different this season with their confidence, performance, and luck, and might go on to win the trophy. He added:

"I would say very RCB is lucky this time. It seems like the whole universe is behind RCB to make them win and to take them to the IPL trophy in their 18th season."

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#4 Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan did a post-match analysis on his YouTube channel and praised RCB for their impressive win. He went on to hail Yash Dayal for keeping calm in the final over, Virat Kohli for his adaptability and Romario Shepherd for his finishing. He said:

"Why has RCB have an invisible tag in front of them? Believe me. They have reached 16 points. Many congratulations to RCB and RCB fans. See the way this match went, Yash Dayal bhai, how did he control his nerves in the last over. Full tosses were happening and full tosses were also being missed, right? He did it last year too in front of Dhoni, he defended the run in front of CSK. Defended the crucial runs this year too." (0:01)

"This ability to play different roles is not there in everyone, that is why Virat has this ability, that is why it makes him special, so once again a great innings, a very crucial innings and then Romario Shepherd, brother, he did a great job, that was the difference."

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#5 Harbhajan Singh

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh opined that CSK showed a good fight, but RCB managed to win the game by posting a big total on the board.

"If we compare, CSK's team was not strong enough but they fought hard in this match. But, if we look back, we will say that they have made a lot of mistakes here but congratulations to RCB who once again showed their mettle with their batting performance." (0:50)

Harbhajan credited Shepherd for playing a "game-changing" knock and helping RCB eventually win the game.

"The one individual who I want to highlight is Romario Shepherd. He scored 53-54 runs in the last two overs. At one point, it looked like RCB were gonna restricted to 170, as CSK bowled well in the middle overs. But, his knock was a game-changing one."