Krunal Pandya etched his name in the history books after a match-winning performance in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) on Sunday (April 28) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The win helped the Rajat Patidar-led side climb to the top spot in the table with 14 points in 10 matches.

Krunal continued his brilliant run of form with the ball with a spell of 1-28 in four overs, which included the wicket of Faf du Plessis. However, it was with the bat that the three-time IPL champions turned the fate of the game. Chasing 163, RCB lost three wickets in the first four overs, leading to a promotion for Krunal Pandya in the batting order.

Krunal made the most of the chance with an unbeaten knock of 73 in just 47 balls to ensure RCB sealed victory with nine balls to spare. Krunal put up a 119-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli, who scored his sixth half-century of the season.

This was only Krunal's second half-century of his IPL career. His first one also came against DC (then known as Delhi Daredevils) in the 2016 season when he was promoted to the number three spot by Mumbai Indians, which led to him reaching a career-high score of 86 in just 37 balls.

In between his two half-centuries, Krunal played 107 innings, which is the most by any player. He is also the first player to play more than 100 innings between two half-centuries in IPL's history. The RCB all-rounder is also the first player to wait more than nine years and 3000 days between two 50+ scores with the bat in the IPL, breaking a record recently set by Karun Nair.

Longest Gap Between Two IPL Half-Centuries (By Innings)

Player	Innings	Years
Krunal Pandya	107	2016-2025
Yusuf Pathan	49	2010-2013
Deepak Hooda	47	2015-2020
Dwayne Bravo	44	2009-2015
Glenn Maxwell	40	2016-2021

Longest Gap Between Two IPL Half-Centuries (By Days)

Player	Days	Dates
Krunal Pandya	3269	May 15 2016, to April 27 2025
Karun Nair	2520	May 20 2018, to April 13 2025
Travis Head	2516	May 7 2017, to March 2017 2014
Wriddhiman Saha	2191	May 3 2008, to May 3 2014
Dwayen Bravo	2168	May 12 2009 , to April 19 2025

Krunal made his IPL debut in 2016 after being signed by MI for 2 crore (INR) and immediately established himself as a regular starter alongside younger brother Hardik. He stayed with the franchise till 2021 and played a key role in their title triumph under Rohit Sharma's leadership in 2017, 2019, and 2020. He won the Player of the Match (POTM) award in the 2017 summit clash in which MI defeated Rising Pune Supergiant by one run.

Krunal joined Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after being purchased for 8.75 crore (INR) in the 2022 IPL mega auction and stayed with them till the 2024 season. The star all-rounder captained them in six matches in the 2023 campaign after KL Rahul missed the second half of the season due to injury.

Krunal was signed by RCB in the 2025 IPL Mega Auction for 5.75 crore (INR). Krunal has made an instant impact and won two POTM awards this season. Before his heroics against the Capitals, he also put up a match-winning show against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the tournament opener.

So far in his IPL career, Krunal has played 137 matches in which he has 1744 runs at an average of 22.64 and a strike-rate of 132.62. He has also taken 187 wickets with the ball at an economy of 7.47.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from IPL 2025,IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap, Most Sixes in IPL, Cricket, Sports and around the world.