Virat Kohli had manifested of hitting the winning runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in an IPL final, and it became reality on Sunday as he also slammed his fastest T20 fifty of his career.
Kohli’s unbeaten 75 played a pivotal role in RCB winning back-to-back titles after they beat Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2026 final. “(It is the) stuff you dream of. (I) thought of this moment many times, wanting to hit the winning run,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
At 37, he still pushes for greatness and looks to give his best when he is in the park. “Such is the demand (that) super young players (are) pushing you to up the ante,” he said.
“I had to change my mindset, not my game so much, take on bowlers and get extra runs,” he added. He was pleased with the fact that other players have also stepped up, which is evident from different players winning Player of the Match award in the first 10 games this season.
“We’ve had to wait for so long and then just to have a group of guys where you feel like you’re stepping onto the ground, you don’t need to be the one to step up every time,” Kohli said.
“These guys are behind you (and) around you, who can win games of cricket for you. We have so many Man of the Match awards spread throughout the group as well.”
“You look at world-class bowling of Hoff (Josh Hazlewood), Bhuv (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), Duff (Jacob Duffy), and Krunal Pandya — you can bank on him as good as ever — Rasikh (Salam) Dar was brilliant this season,” Kohli said.
RCB have managed to put the best team on the park since the last two seasons, which Kohli feels has made the setup really relaxed.
“I felt really relaxed coming in. The team we have gives confidence to see any kind of situation through. (We) knew exactly what to do in the chase.”
For him, on big days, it is the duty of the star players to pull the team through.
“Come the big situation, you need the big boys to step up. I know it’s a chase and they’ll look to get me out early, but I knew we have a champion side that can chase it down with 3-4 overs to go.”
Kohli said the current group of RCB players has both balance and strength.
“All the batsmen chipped in as well. I feel so happy to play in a group where we have balance, we have strength, and we are an all-around strong team and that’s why we have the confidence we have on the field right now,” he said.
Kohli said the final this year felt a lot different than last year. “I said to a few of the boys that it doesn’t feel like the same pressure as last year, we knew what kind of ability we have in the group,” he said. “We topped the table, there’s a reason why we got here first and we just said one thing, if we stick to our cricket, if we execute our plans, we are the best team in the competition’ and there’s a reason why we’ve done well so far.”
“In the group stage, we ended up topping the league stage and just the skill sets (that) we have, the maturity, the composure of the guys just shown through again tonight and it was a clinical performance brought throughout the tournament,” Kohli also said.
