‘Take a bow’ – Aakash Chopra hails RCB’s accomplishment of defending the IPL title

Former India batter Aakash Chopra has hailed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) achievement of retaining the Indian Premier League (IPL) title after beating the Gujarat Titans in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, May 31. 

In doing so, Rajat Patidar’s side became the third team in the tournament’s history to win back-to-back honours and the fourth side to secure multiple titles in their history.

With RCB entering IPL’s history book, Chopra emphasised how difficult it is to defend a title, with only two teams achieving the feat since the tournament’s inception in 2008. The former player-turned-expert also applauded their dominance, having finished first in the points standings and then retaining the title after winning Qualifier 1. 

“The first win only gives you the realisation of what you can do. You tried to do one thing for 17 years, and if you achieve that in the 18th year, you feel a dream was fulfilled. If you have to convert that start into an era, you need to win trophies continuously. The seniors always used to say that winning the trophy once is difficult, but defending it is much more difficult, and we have realised that in the 19-year history. Only three teams have been able to do that. They have become the third team now, and the two teams before this have lifted the trophy five times apiece. There was expectation and anticipation, and then to dominate like this, take a bow,” Aakash Chopra said on JioStar.

RCB secured a comfortable five-wicket victory in the final over the Titans in the final to reclaim the trophy. The two-time champions chased down 156 runs with two overs to spare thanks to Virat Kohli’s outstanding unbeaten knock of 75 from 42 deliveries. 

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The Royal Challengers’ excellent start to the showpiece match was set up by their bowlers, who helped restrict GT to a relatively low score in the first innings. Rasikh Salam Dar ended up taking three wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood took two wickets each to put their side firmly in the driver’s seat at the halfway stage of the game.