Virat Kohli’s six No. 25, over the long-on fence, confirmed Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s second IPL title. Having waited 18 years for their first, they now join Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians as the third team to successfully defend the crown. But Kohli said the pressure on the franchise was less than the previous season when they finally ended a long drought.
Having started the tournament as favourites, they played like a champion team from the word go, never showing any signs of struggle. And Kohli, who top-scored with 75 off 42 deliveries in the final, said the road to the title this season was relatively easy.
“I said to a few of the boys that it doesn’t feel like the same pressure like last year. We topped the group stage, if we stick to our strengths, we’re the best,” he said soon after the five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans.
In a long tournament, there were a couple of defeats, but RCB never looked like a team that was going to collapse at the first sign of pressure. With plenty of experienced heads in the team, they bounced back and by the time the play-offs neared, appeared to be peaking at the right time.
“To be fair, after the break we had one loss and then a close win against MI before a clinical win against KKR. That was a tricky week for us and then we ended up topping the league stage. You look at the group, don’t feel like you need to step up every time and there are guys in front and behind you. World-class bowlers – (Josh) Hazlewood, Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), (Jacob) Duffy – the player of the match awards spread around. I feel great in a group like this, we have got great balance and strength,” he said.
Krunal Pandya, another key member of the squad who too had an outstanding season with the ball and also scored vital runs, said half of the job was done at the auctions and the results showed in the middle.
“There’s no doubt about it, everything is special. It’s like having kids, winning IPL titles is also hard to achieve. A lot of credit goes to the support staff: Mo Bobat, Andy Flower, DK (Dinesh Karthik), Malolan (Rangarajan). Half of the win is in the auction and we did a good job. I’m glad we went back-to-back for the trophies. Eighteen years of waiting, back-to-back trophies, and the supporters have been behind us. Also to Virat Kohli, waited 18 years and now winning two titles,” Pandya, who had won three titles with Mumbai Indians, said.
