Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed the partnership between Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone in the IPL 2025 final against Punjab Kings. RCB won their maiden IPL title as they defeated PBKS by six runs in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Livingstone, who wasn’t in the best of form, scored a crucial cameo of 25 runs off just 15 balls. Jitesh, on the other hand, scored 24 runs off just 10 balls to give a much-needed impetus to RCB’s innings.

The duo added 36 runs off just 12 balls for the fifth wicket partnership and played a key role in helping RCB post 190 runs on the board after they were put into bat.

“Jitesh Sharma was with Liam Livingstone, and the game would have been stuck if that partnership had gotten broken, and there were chances of that happening, as Liam Livingstone wasn’t in form, and the other players had gotten out before that. I thought the game changed there,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

The renowned commentator believes RCB might not have reached a fighting total if Jitesh and Livingstone had not fired for the team.

“Kyle Jamieson came to bowl an over. They scored runs against him and changed the game a little more. I thought that made a huge difference in the end because the runs weren’t that much where you would say you would get a clear-cut winner. The runs were enough to fight, and that’s what happened later. I thought that partnership was absolutely critical,” he elaborated.

Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh conceded only three runs and bagged three wickets in the final over of the innings.

“I liked the way Arshdeep bowled the last over – three runs and three wickets. He changed the game a little, although he was expensive at the start. In fact, at the start, it seemed like he was the only guy who wasn’t following the plan. Everyone else had a plan to bowl short and use the side boundaries, or bowl a few cutters and push the batters on the back foot,” he concluded.