In the end, it was simply meant to be. Royal Challengers Bengaluru's very own Virat Kohli, their No. 18 (jersey), lifting the Indian Premier League trophy after 18 long years. The emotions came pouring out as Kohli's teammates enveloped him after defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in a closely contested final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (June 3).
As game-changing seamer Josh Hazlewood easily defended 29 runs in the final over of the match, all Kohli could do was hide his face in his palms with tear-filled eyes and let it all out. "I've given this team my youth, my prime and my experience, and I've tried to win this every season and I give it everything I have. To finally have this moment come, it's an unbelievable feeling.
"I never thought this day would come. I was overcome with emotions as soon as the last ball was bowled and this means so much to me," the 36-year-old said moments after the triumph.
The opening chapter of the Kohli and the RCB saga was written back in 2008. The Delhi boy was young and restless then and simply wanted to wow everyone with his talent. He appeared to be an anomaly in the dressing room that then included titans like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis.
But RCB trusted Kohli, and their former owner Vijay Mallya, a horse lover, let him be his own and allowed him time to mature into a thoroughbred. Perhaps, he fitted seamlessly into the upmarket and bold image of the franchise.
And then the relationship took a new turn in 2011, with RCB trusting the then 22-year-old with the leadership role. Many others in that age might have wilted in the high-pressure environment, but not this one. Kohli was in the hot seat for 12 years and 143 matches, and he stayed put even when the team failed to bag a trophy.
With time, Kohli built a close connection with Bengalureans. His charisma was a big factor in turning the city dwellers into RCB faithfuls.
In fact, Kohli was a great distraction for RCB fans from their lack of trophy triumph until now. Now that he has earned bragging rights finally, even while not being captain, the feeling is perhaps beyond words.
"Well, it's right up there. As I said, I've given everything that I had for the last 18 years. I've stayed loyal to this team, no matter what, and I always dreamt of winning it with them. And this is far more special than winning it with anyone else because my heart is with Bengaluru, my soul is with Bengaluru.
"And as I said before, this is the team I'm going to play for till the last day that I play the IPL. So this one is absolutely right up there because, you know, as a sportsman, when you grind for something, and this is a very high intensity, high quality tournament, which is of great value in world cricket today. I'm someone that wants to win the big tournaments, the big moments, and this one was missing. And tonight, I'm going to sleep like a baby," he said.
His teammates shared the feeling. Phil Salt said on the magnitude of the moment: "It's an unbelievable feeling. I don't know where I am at the moment. I have not slept. Everywhere we go, we are the most supported team. It's a big fan base. AB de Villiers is here, Chris Gayle is here. It's unbelievable. Thank you to the fans for supporting us. They have won more games for us than you think."
Team mentor Dinesh Karthik spoke at length on the team effort and belief. "This is a team that바카라™s waited 18 years and has had to wait a long time. ABD, Kohli 바카라“ they all tried their hearts out, and so did the support staff. We believed from the start that we were good and had all bases covered. It was great that everyone stepped up at different situations.
"We got to an above-par total tonight; the batters felt it wasn바카라™t easy out there. But the final wasn바카라™t about the pitch 바카라“ we needed fire in the belly, and we had it. Andy Flower pulled us through the ringer 바카라“ he바카라™s groomed me. Mo Bobat had a plan and a vision, and it all fell into place. It was an amazing effort from the boys," Karthik said.
Player of the Match Krunal Pandya described the flow of events like this: "When we were playing the first innings I had this feeling that the slower you bowl the better it will be. But you need guts to do that in this format. I just backed myself, thought I'll vary my pace and keep it on the slower side more often."
He added, "My biggest strength has been to learn what the situation requires. I knew I had to be brave to get wickets tonight. Thought I'd do that by bowling slow. If you'd have bowled quick, it'd have been a good wicket. But if you mixed it up it was tougher. Pitch actually got easier in the second innings. Have enjoyed my time with RCB so far, I said on day one I wanted to win. I told Hardik that the Pandya household will have nine trophies in 11 years."
(With PTI inputs)
