NEW DELHI: After Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinched their second consecutive IPL title, star batter Virat Kohli took to social media with a special message celebrating another historic season for the franchise.RCB defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the IPL 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to successfully defend their crown. Kohli later shared a series of photographs with the IPL trophy and teammates Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma and captain Rajat Patidar. “We asked ourselves a question last year- can we go back to back? Here we are again,” Kohli captioned the post.At 37-and-a-half years of age, Kohli continues to evolve. The veteran batter smashed the fastest T20 half-century of his career and fulfilled a long-cherished dream by hitting the winning runs in an RCB title-winning chase. His unbeaten 75 proved to be the cornerstone of RCB’s second IPL trophy.
“(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.Asked about his blistering 25-ball fifty, Kohli explained how he has adapted his approach to keep pace with the modern game.“Such is the demand (that) super young players (are) pushing you to up the ante,” he said in jest, but the seriousness of his statement wasn’t lost on anyone.“I had to change my mindset, not my game so much, take on bowlers and get extra runs,” he added.
One of the most satisfying aspects of the season for Kohli was the collective contribution from the squad. In the first 10 matches, eight different RCB players won the Player of the Match award, underlining the team’s depth.“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.Kohli credited the balance and quality of the squad assembled by the RCB management over the past two seasons.“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.”He also stressed that RCB remained focused on their own cricket rather than worrying about the opposition.“Our first target was to go top of the table. We didn’t care what jersey was in front of us thereon. We’re respectful, don’t poke any team. We have mature professionals and experience shines through.”For Kohli, big occasions demand big performances from senior players.“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.”The former captain also revealed a message from Director of Cricket Mo Bobat after RCB’s maiden title in 2025 that became a driving force behind their title defence.“When we won last year, Mo Bobat said this is not the end of the journey and we had to go back-to-back. At the start of the chase, I told Venky (Venkatesh Iyer) that we need to kill the game in the powerplay. There was total clarity.”Kohli believes the current RCB squad possesses the right balance and strength across departments.“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.He admitted that the pressure ahead of this year’s final was significantly different from what the team experienced in 2025.“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 said.Kohli also recalled a crucial phase late in the season when RCB were tested after a short break, before regaining momentum with a narrow victory over Mumbai Indians in Raipur.“After the break, we had a couple of losses… I mean, one loss, and then we had a close win against MI,” he said.“I’d say that week for us was a bit tricky because we wanted to finish top, but as soon as we got there, (with the) win against MI, the belief kicked back in, then we had a comprehensive win against KKR and then, yeah, just ended up topping the table and just on our way to the finals,” Kohli said.
What aspect of RCB’s performance was the most impressive?
Despite the final being played at Gujarat Titans’ home venue, Kohli was overwhelmed by the support RCB received from the stands.“We have 14 home games, not seven, we have fans behind us all the time… 90 per cent fans are on our side despite it being GT’s home ground.”
