IPL Final Play of the Day: Virat Kohli sets the tone and then finishes in style

Gujarat Titans were left with little option but to attack when Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer stepped up to bat in the final innings of the Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed just 156 runs, a paltry amount by today’s standards, and were expected to be in contention for the trophy.

But Gujarat had some hope. Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada have dominated the powerplay all season and have been one of the most devastating pairings in the tournament. Most often in the powerplay, they bowled three overs each, allowing the rest of the GT bowlers, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, Prasidh Krishna and Arshad Khan, to wreak havoc in the middle overs.

But it was imperative that Rabada and Siraj get off to a good start.

And Siraj did. The Indian fast bowler moved the ball to both sides in the first over and got Venky and Virat into trouble. All of a sudden the feelings from the first innings came back that this could be a really tough pitch to bat on.

IPL 2026 Final, RCB vs GT: Highlights | Scorecard

But that feeling didn’t last long. Venkatesh Iyer ravaged Rabada for 18 runs in the next over, but in the process Venky injured his knee and was unable to run. The onus then fell on Virat Kohli, who had been struggling to find big shots till that point.

With the world watching, the pressure of defending the title on his shoulders, Kohli was in his element. He loved this. Kohli smashed Siraj for a four over leg and pulled the bowler back for another boundary two minutes later. Just like that, RCB started to dominate the home team in the chase.

The fourth over was even more contemptuous. Kohli smashed Rabada for three fours and one six, racing to 28 from just 10 balls and batting at 280. RCB reached 55 for no loss in just four overs and the tone was set. The game seemed over. RCB were going to catch up, perhaps in record time.

Virat Kohli has this strange habit of standing up in the toughest of times. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, Kohli played a fighting innings of 76 runs that saved India from a terrible collapse against South Africa. On Sunday, when RCB’s innings suddenly went sideways, Kohli once again stood the test of time. Virat Kohli joins his side in the next final. (Image: Reuters)

GT came back into the game from almost nothing when Rashid Khan dismissed Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya in the ninth over. Rashid, the greatest spinner of the modern T20 game, introduced in the attack for the first time, threw GT back into contention by playing sensational overs.

Kohli watched panic from the other end and RCB were scrambling for answers.

Amid the hullabaloo, Kohli also pulled a muscle. A balmy evening in Ahmedabad and two months of cricket in a terrible midsummer had taken their toll. Kohli was robbed of his greatest asset, running between the wickets. Temperatures were high in Ahmedabad during the IPL final. (Image: Reuters)

The idea of not running hard was so foreign to him that he tapped the ball a few times and started out of his crease only to realize two steps later that he was in no shape or form to run hard at all.

Kohli cut off Rashid’s spell. The asking rate was so low it hardly mattered. He grabbed boundaries using classic shots, straight strokes and flicks. Those that did not reach the boundary line were converted to singles instead of twos and threes.

And then his old dream crept into his mind. He wanted his MS Dhoni moment. He wanted to hit the winning runs in the match.

When others lost their wickets, Kohli made sure he stayed till the end. With RCB needing just eight runs to win after the 17th over, Kohli saw his moment. First he split the field between mid-on and midwicket for a four and then lofted Arshad for a six over long-on.

The job was done. RCB won their second IPL title in back-to-back years.

The former may have taken 18 years, but the latter came in just 12 months. Desperately chasing a maiden title, Kohli finally got his shot in the IPL final, the sixth win of the most elusive white-ball trophy of his career.

– The end

Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

1 Jun 2026 06:57 IST