Ahmedabad, India: Virat Kohli was hailed as the “heartbeat” of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru dressing room after his unbeaten 75 secured a second straight IPL championship.
The 37-year-old Kohli was there at the end as Bengaluru chased 156 to beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in Sunday´s final in Ahmedabad. Dubbed the “chase master”, Kohli finished with a six and a total of 675 runs in the T20 tournament.
“Virat, I know you get a lot of attention and quite rightly,” head coach Andy Flower said in a Royal Challengers Bengaluru video tribute released Monday. “But I don´t want to downplay that, because you are a heartbeat in this dressing room.”
Kohli got the team off to a flying start in a 62-run opening stand with Venkatesh Iyer and later anchored the chase. He hammered Gujarat pace bowler Kagiso Rabada for two fours and a six to set the tone for his team´s domination at the 130,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, which was packed with Kohli fans.
“He relishes these situations, he looks forward to these situations where he can show how good a player he is,” former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Today. “What kind of a temperament he has, the winning mindset that he has.”
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said: “Virat doesn´t need any trophies. He is a trophy himself.” Bengaluru and Kohli have been on a roll in the T20 tournament since winning their first IPL crown at the 18th attempt last year.
Bengaluru finished top of the 10-team table after the league stage and hammered Gujarat in the first play-off for a direct entry into the final. A majority of the 90,000 crowd seemed to be wearing Kohli´s number 18 shirt, with chants of “Kohli, Kohli” filling the air.
