Virat Kohli (Screen Grab) Virat Kohli gave an emotional dressing room speech after Royal Challengers Bengaluru pulled off a thrilling last-ball win against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026, a victory that moved the defending champions to the top of the points table and left them one win away from sealing a play-off spot. RCB held their nerve in a dramatic chase of 167 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, winning by two wickets off the last delivery after a roller-coaster contest. The chase got off to a disastrous start for Bengaluru, with Kohli dismissed for a golden duck by Deepak Chahar in the opener before Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar also departed cheaply. With RCB reeling at 47/3 on a slow surface, Krunal Pandya produced a heroic 73 while battling severe cramps, anchoring the innings and pulling the chase deep. Finally, Bhuvneshwar Kumar smashed a crucial six in the final over before Rasikh Salam Dar scrambled back for the winning runs on the last ball. Kohli’s animated leap after the winning run underlined how much the result meant to RCB. Later in the dressing room, the former captain praised the resilience and fighting mentality of the team. “Hey guys, I’ll cut it short. I’ll wrap it up tonight. Thanks Andy (Flower) for giving me a chance to do something in the game today,” Kohli began. “But guys, look, if you want to win multi-team competitions, we need a team. We need a game like that. To win, we have to scrap. We have to fight hard.” Kohli singled out Bhuvneshwar for special praise after the veteran pacer performed with both bat and ball. Earlier in the evening, Bhuvneshwar tore apart Mumbai’s top order by dismissing Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav before finishing with brilliant figures of 4/23. “We know the feeling in the group. We are just talking about the game, how we started again. Bhuvi, brilliant in the Powerplay. Your execution, your ability, you are absolutely world class. I think it was the sixth three-wicket haul of the season – 11 matches, which is crazy,” Kohli said. Bhuvneshwar, who now leads the IPL 2026 wicket charts with 21 wickets, credited confidence and execution for his strong season. “The good thing is that whatever I do or try to do, it happens. And I think it’s all about confidence,” Bhuvneshwar said. “When you start the IPL, you get a few good matches, then your confidence goes up. And I think yes, I don’t want to change it, but whatever I try to do, it’s happening. My execution is on point, I’m getting wickets and of course I’m getting help from the fielders to take those crucial chances. So yes, I think things are working.” Kohli also praised the contributions of the rest of the bowling attack, including Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma and Rasikh Salam Dar. “Shef (Romario Shepherd), the way you bowled tonight was first class and you showed us what you can do when you feel confident with the ball in hand and can hit your areas. You have the skill and we all support you to use your skill every time. Well done,” Kohli said. “KP (Krunal) can always count on you under pressure or in any situation. Great with the ball again. Suyash also did his job. Rasikh was also brilliant.” The RCB batsman also acknowledged the team’s batting struggles before praising the middle-order fight led by Krunal and Tim David. “We didn’t get off to the best start with the bat. We know that. But like the last game, we had two games where we didn’t get off to the best start, but in the last game, Rajat came through along with KP’s contribution. TD (Tim David) hit in the last game.” “This match again, he got stuck in and got us an important partnership with KP. So this contribution was crucial for us to get behind the score. Well done,” Kohli added.
