Virat Kohli has opened up about the emotional significance of Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally winning their maiden IPL title in 2025, admitting the triumph felt far more special because of the franchise’s painful journey over the previous 18 years. RCB ended one of the longest title droughts in IPL history after defeating Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 final. The victory triggered emotional scenes on the field, with Kohli visibly overwhelmed after spending his entire IPL career with the Bengaluru franchise since the inaugural season in 2008.
Speaking about the unforgettable night, Virat Kohli admitted that the emotions from the final moments are still difficult to describe even now. “I felt very thankful, and I feel grateful every day of my life, to be honest. I have nothing to complain about. But that night especially, and I still say it’s very difficult to explain to people in words how I felt in the last four balls of the last over,” Kohli said.
For years, RCB carried the tag of being one of the IPL’s biggest underachievers despite consistently assembling star-studded squads and reaching multiple playoffs and finals. Kohli acknowledged how mentally exhausting that pressure became over time.
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“When you see from the outside what has happened to the franchise, how RCB has been looked at for so many years as a big team, a big franchise that’s never won. You know, the almost champions, the ones that have come close but never really won the trophy. And for that pressure to build over so many years, like season after season, there’s one thing to observe it, and there’s one thing to live it. And I have lived through all of those seasons,” he added.
The former RCB captain admitted that had the franchise won the title earlier in his career, the feeling would never have matched the emotions he experienced in 2025 after nearly two decades of waiting.
kohli about winning the IPL trophy alonside ab de villiers and chris gayle pic.twitter.com/Okj6fOECEp
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“I can, with absolute honesty and clarity, say that it wouldn’t have been five per cent of the feeling I had, had we won it in the earlier years. The accumulation of all that stress and all that pressure, and for it to happen after 18 years, there couldn’t have been a better experience for me in my cricketing journey. Apart from all the other things that I’ve experienced playing for India as well, this was very, very special,” Virat Kohli revealed.
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Kohli also reflected on the bond he shares with the franchise and the trust RCB showed in him during the early stages of his career. He recalled how the management retained him ahead of the 2011 season and built the squad around him at a crucial point in his development as an international cricketer.
“I started my journey with RCB very young, as everyone knows. Then I was retained at a very important juncture in my career, to be fair, with the conversation back and forth. RCB agreed to the perspective I had for my own career, for my own game, because I was also playing for India. They showed trust in me. I was the only retained player in 2011, and they kind of built the team around me,” he said.
Kohli also acknowledged the emotional investment of franchise legends like AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, both of whom spent some of the best years of their careers with RCB without managing to win the IPL trophy.
“I felt that impact probably more than anyone over the course of 18 years, till the last year we won the trophy. And I think all those emotions, all those feelings came out in the form of just being on my knees and just holding my hands and saying thank you. That I could experience this before I stopped playing,” Virat Kohli concluded.
