New Delhi: 

Kohli now stands on the cusp of glory, not as captain, but with all the limelight still on him as Bengaluru’s prodigal son looks to end his quest for a maiden IPL title. With RCB set to take on Punjab Kings in a much-awaited blockbuster IPL 2025 final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, it can finally be Kohli’s crowing moment after 18 years of toil, hard work and heartbreaks.

 The greatest sporting fairytales often involve stories of insatiable hunger, mental fortitude, overcoming adversities, and, most importantly, great patience. And patient he has been for close to two decades. In the 18 years of perseverance, Virat Kohli has been through it all. He has witnessed the highs and some earth-shattering lows, but he has seen it all with one single team – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

One of the most sought-after players for many years now, the run machine, by his own admission, has been approached for a move away from his team on several occasions, but he has had no second thoughts about where he belongs. Kohli has called the franchise his home for 18 seasons in the IPL, and it will arguably be one of the greatest sporting fairytales if India’s beloved No. 18 lifts the elusive trophy in the 18th year of the league’s existence.

Completing the arc

Kohli, who has been an active international cricketer for India for 18 years now, has won everything with the national team. Kohli has won two World Cups, the Test mace and the Champions Trophy while acing milestones and shattering records across formats. He is arguably the greatest batter of the present era and has little to prove, having gone places only a few can dream of.

But the one trophy that has eluded his illustrious cabinet is that of the IPL. Kohli has come close to winning it on a few occasions, but has failed to get his team over the line. He has been the most consistent batter for his team over the years, and has carried them single-handedly in several seasons, but has nothing to show for his efforts.

Kohli can complete his career arc this season by adding the only trophy missing from his cabinet. The crowning moment with RCB that he has been chasing for nearly two decades now. And there is a good chance it will happen, as, unlike the RCB of the old, it is no longer a team of individual superstars, but a well-oiled, unselfish unit, hungry for success.

And for a change, the onus is on the team, and not just Kohli, this time around, to cross the final hurdle and help their biggest hero get the ultimate crown.

In 2016, Kohli shattered record books on his way to smashing 973 runs in the season, the most any batter has ever scored in a single edition of the tournament. For context, no batter has even managed to score 900 runs in a season. But even that superhuman effort with the bat was not enough to take RCB over the line as they slipped in the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Among the runs, as always

After several false dawns, heartbreaks and lows over the years, RCB have finally shown glimpses of a champion team this season with consistency and composure. And this might finally be the year for RCB and Kohli.

June 3, 2025, might go down in history as a day when ‘King Kohli’ ended a long wait to win the final battle and was finally crowned the champion of IPL.

Kohli’s insatiable hunger for runs and his mental fortitude have once again stood out in IPL 2025 as he has been the driving force with the bat behind his team’s success. Barring a few games where he has had his share of struggles, Kohli has been on the money, providing RCB with fiery starts at the top alongside his opening partner Phil Salt.

As always, he has been among the runs throughout their campaign and has been one of RCB’s most consistent batters with 614 runs from 14 matches, averaging 55.82 and striking at 146.53, including as many as 8 half-centuries under his belt. Kohli is at the top of the run-scoring charts for RCB this season and has played an instrumental role in their run to the final.

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