"A million thanks" - PBKS youngster expresses gratitude after receiving bat from Virat Kohli post IPL 2025 match against RCB 

Punjab Kings (PBKS) youngster Musheer Khan expressed his gratitude after receiving a bat from veteran batter Virat Kohli following their IPL 2025 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The game took place on Sunday, April 20, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh.

After being asked to bat first, Punjab Kings posted 157/6 in their 20 overs, with Prabhsimran Singh leading the scoring with a quick 33 off 17 balls. For RCB, Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma impressed with the ball, picking up two wickets apiece.

In reply, the visitors lost Phil Salt early for just one. However, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal steadied the innings with a solid 103-run partnership off 69 balls for the second wicket. Padikkal scored a fluent 61 off 35 deliveries. Meanwhile, Kohli anchored the chase with an unbeaten 73 off 54 balls, guiding RCB to a seven-wicket victory with seven balls to spare.

After the match, Punjab Kings' youngster Musheer Khan shared a post on Instagram, expressing his gratitude after receiving a bat from Virat Kohli. He captioned it:

“A million thanks for the bat and Virat bhaiya & a billion for the love.”

The Punjab-based franchise signed Musheer Khan for INR 30 lakhs in the 2025 mega auction, but he has yet to make his debut. Meanwhile, with the win, RCB jumped to third place on the points table, taking their tally to 10 points from eight games.

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“This should go to him” - Virat Kohli after earning the Player of the Match award against PBKS in IPL 2025

Virat Kohli was awarded Player of the Match against Punjab Kings on April 20, 2025. He delivered a match-winning performance of 73 not out from 54 balls, including seven fours and one maximum.

However, during the post-match presentation, while receiving the award, the veteran batter humbly stated that the award should have gone to Devdutt Padikkal for his knock of 61 runs. He said [as quoted Cricbuzz]:

“Very important game for us. 2 points can make a massive difference in terms of qualification. We have played some amazing cricket away from home. When you go from eight to ten (points), it makes a massive difference in the points table." "The mindset has to be to get 2 points in every game. I wanted to accelerate more. I thought Dev made a difference today, this award should go to him, I don't know why they have given it to me. I try to stay there, holding one end up and try to accelerate later. There always is a temptation to keep going in the same way," he added.

Kohli has accumulated 322 runs in eight matches in the ongoing IPL 2025, averaging 64.40, with four half-centuries to his name.

Edited by Aditya Singh