King Kohli finally gets Indian Premier League crown after 18-year wait

Dubai: It wasn’t Rajat Patidar’s night, despite him lifting the trophy. It wasn’t even about Josh Hazlewood or Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled with nerves of steel. Tuesday in Ahmedabad belonged to one man and one man only: Virat Kohli.

Eighteen years after joining Royal Challengers Bengaluru as a teenager, the 36-year-old finally completed the only chapter missing from his glittering career — an IPL title. And when it happened, it was raw, beautiful and almost poetic. Kohli dropped to his knees, eyes welling with tears, and then rose to be engulfed in a celebratory embrace from his current and former teammates and later from his wife Anushka Sharma. Around him, fireworks lit up the sky and 91,000 voices sang his name in unison.

For Bengaluru, this was a title 18 seasons in the making. For Kohli, it was something far deeper — a release. A career that had carried the burden of expectation, heartbreak and unwavering loyalty had finally been rewarded.

“It means everything,” he said. “We’ve had horrible seasons and great ones too, but the fans always turned up. I’ve never seen loyalty like that. That’s what made me stay.”

Kohli’s relationship with the city of Bengaluru goes beyond cricket. His long-time association with the franchise blossomed into business ventures and personal connections. His wife Anushka Sharma, who spent her school and college years in the city, shares that bond. Kohli has long said he felt at home in Bengaluru. On Tuesday, the city celebrated as if a long-lost son had returned victorious.

No 18 has always followed Kohli, who joined RCB when he was 19. He lost his father on December 18. He made his India debut on August 18. And now, he wins his first IPL crown in Season 18, wearing the same number on his back — 18.

This wasn’t the most flamboyant version of Kohli on display — he made a hard-fought 43 off 35 balls, including just three boundaries — but it was vintage in its own way. He held the innings together on a two-paced pitch, forming crucial partnerships with Mayank Agarwal and Patidar as RCB posted 190-9.

It was a total that looked slightly above par on a sluggish surface, and the RCB bowlers, led by Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya, made it count. Punjab Kings, despite a late flourish from Shashank Singh (61 not out), finished six runs short.

But the match was almost a footnote. Kohli was the story.

Kohli has long been the face of the IPL — and of RCB’s unfulfilled promise. He has scored 8,661 runs in the tournament, captained the side through highs and lows, and stayed loyal even as others moved for more success elsewhere. His previous three finals all ended in heartbreak. Questions had been raised about his intensity, his decisions, and even his future.

Yet he never left.

“I stayed because I believed,” he said, soaking in the crowd’s applause. “You can’t fake this. It’s real. It’s personal.”

This season, Kohli led from the front. He finished with 657 runs in 15 games, including eight half-centuries. But the title meant more than the numbers.

“You can see what it meant to him,” said Punjab coach Ricky Ponting. “He’s given everything to that franchise. And now they finally have a trophy.”

Bengaluru’s head coach Andy Flower, who had a front-row seat to Kohli’s hunger this season, called it “one of the most fulfilling campaigns” he’s ever been part of.

“Virat, in his 18th year of competing in the IPL… that makes it really special for everyone involved,” Flower said.

It wasn’t just a win for Kohli. It was a win for those who had stayed with him.

More than 91,000 fans filled the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, most clad in red and chanting “Kohli, Kohli” every time the camera found him. Back in Bengaluru, midnight fireworks and dancing in the streets greeted the moment the final ball was bowled.

Social media erupted. “Fitting that jersey No 18 lifts the trophy in the 18th edition,” wrote Sachin Tendulkar. Matthew Hayden called the moment “a defining chapter not just in IPL history but in Kohli’s storybook career.”

While Kohli allowed himself to savour the moment, he also addressed the question many had quietly begun asking: was this the perfect time to bow out?

Not yet.

“There’s an end date to every career,” he said. “But until then, I want to give it my all — not just in patches, but across 20 overs. That’s who I am.”

It was a gentle reminder that while the trophy has finally arrived, the drive remains. The fire that fuelled Kohli through 18 seasons has not dimmed. If anything, it has been reignited.

In the end, Kohli didn’t just win an IPL title. He won back the one thing even legends sometimes struggle to hold on to: destiny.

And on this night, destiny finally bowed to the King.