Ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that if Royal Challengers Bengaluru have to win IPL 2025, then Gujarat Titans will have to beat the Mumbai Indians and eliminate them from the race to the title, as having MI in the final will give the Hardik Pandya-led side a massive upper hand. Ashwin said that Mumbai are the only franchise that can defeat Bengaluru in the final, with MI striving for a record sixth title in the tournament. If Mumbai beat Gujarat on Friday, they will take on the Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2, and the winner of that contest will play Bengaluru in the final on June 3. “If RCB have to win the IPL, then Gujarat Titans should win against Mumbai Indians. MI are one team that you cannot allow to enter the final, you have to stop them at any cost,” Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel. “RCB will keep their fingers crossed to not have Mumbai Indians in the final. The Mumbai Indians are the only team that has a chance against RCB. It looks like RCB are going the distance, but it is cricket; anything can happen,” Ashwin said. “Virat Kohli, I want to tell you all one thing. I don’t want to make it about Virat Kohli, but I cannot help but feel that this is RCB’s year. Virat Kohli did not have an ICC title; people constantly used to say this,” Ashwin added. Bengaluru raced to their first IPL final in nine years with an eight-wicket pounding of Punjab in a lopsided Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur on Thursday. PBKS’ ultra-aggressive approach backfired on the day as Bengaluru skittled out the home team for a paltry 101 in the 15th over. Bengaluru, who are yet to win the Indian Premier League despite reaching three finals since the league’s inception 17 years back, gunned down the small target in 10 overs, thanks to an aggressive half-century from opener Phil Salt (56 not out off 27). Punjab, who reached the play-offs for the first time in over a decade, will get another shot at reaching the final in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on June 1.