Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma (Image credit: RCB)
New Delhi: Celebrations were in full swing after Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinched their second consecutive Indian Premier League title, defeating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
RCB became only the third franchise after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to successfully defend the IPL crown. The Rajat Patidar-led side first restricted the Gujarat Titans to 155/8 before chasing down the target with five wickets in hand and two overs.While the RCB players and support staff celebrated another historic victory, Virat Kohli stole the limelight with his wife Anushka Sharma. The star duo were seen dancing on the field moments after winning the title, enjoying the celebrations with their teammates and family members.
For someone who carries the weight of expectations season after season, it was a moment of pure joy. Kohli was also seen wearing a special T-shirt with the message printed on the back, ‘Someone felt good, we did it twice’ – a fitting tribute to RCB’s successful title defence.RCB shared a video of Kohli and Anushka dancing and enjoying the title winning moment. The former captain was also seen getting emotional with batting coach Dinesh Karthik as the celebrations continued late into the night.
Kohli played a pivotal role in the final, remaining unbeaten with 75 after RCB’s spinners laid the foundation for a five-wicket win.“We had to wait for a long time and only then do we have a group of guys where you feel like stepping on the ground, you don’t need to be the one who comes forward every time,” Kohli told the radio host.
“These guys are behind you (and) around you, and they can win cricket matches for you. We have several Man of the Match awards spread throughout the group as well.”“You look at the world-class bowling of HOF (Josh Hazlewood), OV (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), OV (Jacob Duffy), Krunal Pandya – you can count on him as good as ever – Rasikh (Salam) Dar has been fantastic this season,” Kohli said.Kohli said this year’s final was much different from last year.“I told some of the players we didn’t feel the same pressure as last year, we knew what kind of ability we had in the group,” he said.“We are topping the table, there is a reason why we got here first and we only said one thing, ‘If we stick to our cricket, if we execute our plans, we will be the best team in the competition’ and there is a reason why we have done so well so far.”“In the group stage, we ended up topping the league stage thanks to the skills we had and the maturity and composure that the players just showed again tonight and it was a decisive performance throughout the tournament,” Kohli said.
