'Eight players being Player of the Match throughout the season' - Varun Aaron explains RCB's secret to success as IPL Final nears

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) reached the Finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the fourth time after beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 1 in New Chandigarh on Thursday, May 29.

The Rajat Patidar-led side bowled PBKS out for 101 in 14.1 overs, as Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma each bagged a three-for. In reply, Phil Salt smashed an unbeaten 56 off 27 balls to help his team romp home in 10 overs with eight wickets in the bank. Suyash won his first Player of the Match award while playing for RCB.

After RCB's comprehensive win, former India cricketer Varun Aaron said that different players stepping up at different points in the season have been key to their success. The cricketer-turned-expert noted that, unlike previous editions, where the bulk of the scoring was done by Virat Kohli and a couple of other batters, IPL 2025 has seen the likes of Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Devdutt Padikkal, and others playing crucial knocks under pressure.

"At the end of the day, you've got to attribute it to eight players being man of the match throughout the season. Because RCB have always been dominated by a few players, a few big batters, I would say, did the bulk of the lifting. But there was always talks about, after Virat Kohli, who's the highest (Indian) run-scorer? Till last year, it was Rahul Dravid. This year, that has changed," Aaron told ESPNcricinfo.

"Phil Salt has come in, he's played a really big hand. Devdutt Padikkal was instrumental in the first half. Now, you've got somebody like Jitesh Sharma standing up. Rajat Patidar is looking good, even from last game, though he didn't get too many runs. So, there are signs, and then Tim David comes in, plays brilliantly. Romario Shepherd, what an innings. So if you actually think about it, so many moments from RCB straightaway comes to mind that, you know what, everybody's chipped in at different times, when they were down and out," Aaron added.

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The Bengaluru-based side has relied on Krunal Pandya and Suyash as spinners this season. While the former has won a few games with his deceptive bowling, the latter made his presence felt on Thursday.

Aaron said that the Bengaluru-based franchise may not have the best spin-bowling attack in the league, but the Krunal-Suyash duo has outperformed the other spinners.

“You know what, RCB doesn't have the best spin attack, but their spinners have stood up better than anybody else. It's just a story of guys stepping up more than they have stepped up before," the former pacer said.