Indian stalwart Virat Kohli finally tasted success in the Indian Premier League (IPL), as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 6 runs in the final match of IPL 2025.
RCB ended their 18-year trophy drought, as they put up a brave performance against the league leaders in the final to etch their names in the IPL history books.
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Kohli has won multiple trophies, such as the World Cup and Champions Trophy, with India in international cricket, but domestic success had eluded him for a long time. Now he finally has the much-coveted IPL trophy to add to his cabinet.
The Sporting News takes a look at how the events unfolded that led to Kohli lifting his first-ever IPL trophy.
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RCB and Virat Kohli finally lift the IPL trophy after 18 years
Put to bat first, RCB managed a total of 190 runs in their quota of 20 overs, thanks to handy knocks from Virat Kohli and Jitesh Sharma. Rajat Patidar, Liam Livingstone, and Romario Shepherd all got off to good starts but couldn't complete the task they were assigned.
Punjab began their chase well but were restricted for 184/7 in 20 overs. Krunal Pandya proved to be the decisive game-changer in the high-voltage game as he picked up 2/17 in his four overs, including the key wicket of Josh Inglis.
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Skipper Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for a single-digit score, his fourth failure against RCB this season, as he failed to replicate his innings from the Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians (MI). The PBKS captain fell prey to Romario Shepherd's outside the off-stump delivery.
Kohli was the highest scorer for RCB, as he bagged 43 runs in 35 deliveries. Earlier, Kohli came close thrice in 2009, 2011, and 2016, respectively, but fell short each time in some way or another.
This time, the stars aligned in his favour, as the Indian superstar got hold of the trophy he most desired after winning it all in his illustrious career.