After an 18-year wait, will Virat Kohli finally lift the IPL trophy for Royal Challengers Bangalore?
Ahmedabad: The IPL's final showdown is here. After two and a half months and 74 matches, the 18th edition of the IPL concludes with the final match. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings will face off in Ahmedabad, vying for their maiden IPL title. As the final begins at 7:30 PM in the Narendra Modi Stadium, all eyes will be on one man: Virat Kohli. Will the King finally lift the IPL trophy?
Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings have scores to settle. Both teams have previously come close to winning the title but fallen short. Punjab's last appearance in the final was in 2014. RCB, on the other hand, has played in three IPL finals. In the second IPL edition in 2009, they reached the final in Johannesburg but lost by six runs. Virat Kohli, who played in that final, is still with RCB.
In 2011, Royal Challengers Bangalore again reached the IPL final, facing MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings. Bangalore crumbled before Chennai's 205 runs, losing by 58 runs. Kohli, who scored 35 runs off 32 balls, walked back to the dugout disappointed.
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RCB's third final appearance was in 2016 against a Warner-powered Sunrisers Hyderabad. Despite Kohli scoring 973 runs and ABD scoring 687 runs that season, Bangalore fell short in the final. Kohli's fifty in the final couldn't save the team, and they lost by eight runs.
RCB's Dhoni?
Virat Kohli has played for a single team since the inaugural IPL season in 2008. Fans identify Kohli with Bangalore just as they associate Dhoni with Chennai. From 2011 to 2023, Kohli led RCB. He has played 266 IPL matches for RCB, batting in 258 innings and scoring 8618 runs at an average of 39.53 and a strike rate of 132.92. Kohli leads the IPL run charts with eight centuries, the most by any player in IPL history. He also tops the list for fifties with 63.
Virat Kohli deserves an IPL title, and even his rivals would agree. Having played 18 magnificent IPL seasons for RCB, this seems like the perfect time for Kohli to lift the trophy. With 614 runs, including 8 fifties, Kohli is in top form. RCB's dominant win against Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 might be a sign of things to come. Could this IPL title finally belong to the King? Will the long wait finally end?
