Royal Challengers Bengaluru fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has revealed that his conversation with Virat Kohli is mainly regarding the family after the IPL 2025 win. Both Kumar and Kohli played instrumental roles for RCB while leading the franchise to glory for the first time in the IPL under Rajat Patidar’s captaincy.
Kohli top-scored in the final for RCB with 43 runs off 35 balls against the Mohali-based franchise. The veteran played an instrumental role in taking RCB to glory as he amassed 657 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2025 at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71.
On the other hand, Kumar scalped 17 wickets in 14 matches of IPL 2025 and played a key role for RCB.
“Things are different now. When we meet these days, we talk more about family or off-the-ground family matters because everyone has a family now. We talk about how we are doing in life other than cricket. Earlier, when we weren’t married and were younger, it was more about the usual fun and jokes boys have. So that’s where the change has come,” Bhuveshwar said on the YouTube podcast ‘Talk with Manvendra’.
Kumar revealed they are thoroughly professional on the cricket ground and always aim to give their best.
“But I think on the ground we are professional. We never really need that bond to perform well on the field because if RCB has picked me, or picked Virat, or any other player, they want us to perform well on the ground regardless of whether we have a friendship or not. I think we know what we have to do on the ground. But off the ground, of course, as I said, things have changed in that way. Everyone has matured, and of course, we’ve grown older, so now the conversations are different,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh pacer said Rajat Patidar didn’t have to do anything special as a leader and lauded the RCB captain for taking the right calls on the field.
“It was very good. The best part was that since it was such an experienced team, I think Rajat didn’t have to do much. The best thing was that he didn’t interfere too much, but the areas where he did show leadership were exactly what is needed on the ground, that the leader should take decisions, and he took them very well. Because somewhere, when you have so many senior players and such an experienced team, they tend to hesitate in making decisions, but he didn’t. That was a quality of his leadership, that where it was needed, he made decisions, and where it wasn’t, he stayed completely relaxed. So, I think he knew exactly where to interfere in a good way and where not to.”
The swing master said RCB were able to come up with a collective effort throughout the IPL 2025 season, and every player was able to step up at a different stage in the tournament.
“This time, the biggest difference was that all the players in the playing XI won matches for the team in different games, in different situations, and in different roles. When you play such a big tournament with so many matches and so many teams, you can’t win the tournament based on the consistent performances of just one or two players. You need as many players as possible from your 11 or 12-member squad to perform. That’s exactly what happened with RCB. There were many matches where the bowlers did their job and many matches where the batters did it. As I said, in every situation, at every stage, some new player stepped up and won the game for the team.”
RCB defeated PBKS by six runs in IPL 2025 final.
