After his undefeated 75 secured a second consecutive IPL title, Virat Kohli was praised as the “heartbeat” of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru dressing room.
In Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad, the 37-year-old Kohli stayed unbeaten as Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets after chasing 156. Known as the “chase master,” Kohli concluded the T20 tournament with a six and 675 runs.
“Virat, I know you get a lot of attention and quite rightly. But I don’t want to downplay that, because you are a heartbeat in this dressing room,” head coach Andy Flower said in a Royal Challengers Bengaluru video tribute released Monday.
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With a 62-run opening partnership with Venkatesh Iyer, Kohli gave the side a head start and later anchored the chase.
At the 130,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium, which was crowded with Kohli supporters, he smacked Gujarat pace bowler Kagiso Rabada for two fours and a six to set the tone for his team’s dominance.
“He relishes these situations, he looks forward to these situations where he can show how good a player he is. What kind of a temperament he has, the winning mindset that he has,” former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Today.
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal was quoted as saying by AFP: “Virat doesn’t need any trophies. He is a trophy himself.”
Since winning their first IPL title on their 18th attempt last year, Bengaluru and Kohli have been dominating the T20 competition. After the league round, Bengaluru dominated the 10-team standings and defeated Gujarat in the first playoff to advance directly to the final.
Chants of “Kohli, Kohli” filled the air as most of the 90,000 spectators appeared to be wearing Kohli’s number 18 shirt.
“I always say we don’t have seven home games, we probably have 14. Everywhere we go, we have fans cheering the team and really getting behind us. I mean, GT are probably the home side, but you see 90 percent of the guys are RCB fans. Their support is priceless,” Kohli said after being named player of the match.
The squad will not hold a public homecoming with the trophy. Eleven people were killed in a stampede and crush outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium during a victory parade for their first title victory a year ago.
“Obviously, you feel bad — you lost your fans after winning the game. Not just fans, they are the family members. I always want to dedicate this trophy to them. I don’t have words to express that feeling,” Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar said after this year’s win.
