King Kohli reigns again as RCB lifts trophy.
Kohli walked out determined to finish the job.
Virat Kohli, who produced a quintessential chase-master innings to guide his side to a five-wicket victory over the Gujarat Titans.
Gujarat’s total of 155 for eight looked fragile from the outset: the pitch was slow, the conditions tight, and RCB’s bowlers showed calm discipline. Yet it was the way Bengaluru chased — with intent, composure and moments of genuine aggression — that made the difference. Their 161 for five in 18 overs read like a statement rather than a scramble, and Kohli’s unbeaten 75 off 42 deliveries provided the spine.
The final felt like a match between two different moods. Gujarat’s batting carried a nervousness that never quite left; each partnership felt like it might be the last. RCB, by contrast, played like a team that trusted its plans and its personnel. Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer’s blitz in the middle overs summed that up: 62 runs in just 4.3 overs put the contest on a knife-edge — and cut down the Titans’ hopes as surely as a sharp blade.
Early on, Rabada posed a serious threat but was contained in a spell of three scoreless overs that kept the Titans’ power intact for only so long. Yet the powerplay told a different story. RCB raced to 70 for two, and while that total suggested momentum, the middle overs brought twists. The fall of Venkatesh and Devdutt Padikkal, followed in quick succession by skipper Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya, left Bengaluru wobbling at 91 for four. It might have been the moment to sense a shift — but Kohli’s calmness turned a wobble into merely an interlude.
At 37, Kohli still possesses that rare combination of poise and urgency that defines the modern chase specialist. When the pressure mounted he did not blink. He weathered a scare when a Shubman Gill catch off Arshad Khan was initially given out but overturned on review after the ball was shown to have kissed the grass. Moments like that can rattle even the best; Kohli shrugged it off and accelerated, pulling a boundary off Arshad to bring up his fifty — his fifth of the season.
Tim David’s cameo of 24 off 17 balls arrived just when RCB needed a burst of pace. And finish he did, with an emphatic six off Arshad that turned the tension of the final moments into unbridled celebration. The shot flew high and long, and the RCB dugout erupted — a raw, joyous outpouring that saw Patidar break his usual stoicism into a grin that said everything. The captain, who now joins the rare company of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as leaders who have successfully defended an IPL title, embraced his teammates as a jubilant crowd swarmed the field.
Kohli, the beating heart of the franchise since 2008, was surrounded and lifted by the players he has inspired for nearly two decades. It was more than a trophy; it was validation of a career-long relationship between a batter and a city that lives and breathes for cricket.
But the victory did not come without credit to RCB’s bowlers. On a surface that offered little obvious pace, Bengaluru’s attack found ways to strangle the game. Line, length and variation did the work that raw speed could not; containment turned into wickets, and the Titans’ innings never quite found the rhythm required to post a challenging total. Gujarat’s batsmen looked tentative — runs were hard-earned, boundaries rarer than hoped — and 155 on a slow track proved below par.
For Gujarat, the match will be a study in missed chances. Individual moments — a dropped catch, a few loose deliveries at key times, and an inability to sustain partnerships — compounded into a total that allowed RCB to control the chase. For Bengaluru, it was a match that showcased balance: bowlers who applied pressure and batters who seized the right moments to punish.
As fireworks lit the Ahmedabad night, the feel of inevitability was replaced by the unmistakable thrill of a title secured. RCB walked away with the trophy, and Kohli — as ever — walked back to the pavilion having done what champions do: deliver when it matters most.