Kohli, who is the only player to represent the same team – Royal Challengers Bengaluru – from IPL’s inception, has ruled the tournament with the bat. He has more than 9,000 runs for RCB in over 250 matches for the team across IPL and Champions League T20, the most for any batter. The 36-year-old also has the most eight centuries. He led the franchise from 2011 to 2022 with a final in 2016, where the team fell short by just eight runs.
But it was on Tuesday at Ahmedabad that Kohli got the taste of the coveted title after RCB defeated Punjab Kings by six runs. Kohli himself contributed 43 runs in the final.
From U19 promise to an icon
A young, 19-year-old, Virat Kohli had joined RCB from the draft system in the inaugural season in 2008, fresh off an U19 World Cup win as a captain. Kohli did not have the best of starts to his IPL career with just 135 runs in 13 matches. His second season was not the best either, with 246 runs in 16 matches. He showed some promise in 2010, when he got his first 300-run season.
It came as a surprise when Kohli was the only player retained by RCB in 2011, ahead of legends of the game like Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor.
The 22-year-old Kohli repaid the faith put in him with 557 runs, including four half centuries that season. The team reached the final but fell short in the final step. He also led the team for the first time in the absence of regular captain Daniel Vettori. The batter was made the full-time captain RCB in 2013. However, his breakout season came in 2016, in which he smashed 973 runs to lead the team to the final. The tally remains the highest for a batter in a single season till date. He smashed four centuries in that season, equalled only by Jos Buttler. The 2017-19 seasons were a slump for RCB, finishing last twice and not making it to the playoffs even once. Kohli, however, was still among runs with more than 400 runs in each of the seasons.
By this time, Kohli had already etched his name in history books, becoming one of the best batters across the world, winning matches single handedly for India and RCB.
He gave up the leadership duties in 2022 and ever since has registered three consecutive seasons of more than 600 runs, adding to his legacy with the bat.
Having won everything with India – the 50 over World Cup, Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup – it is only fitting that Kohli has lifted the coveted IPL title after 18 long years, the number he has carried on his shirt all through his legendray career.