‘Last year we asked ourselves…’: Virat Kohli’s special post after RCB’s IPL 2026 triumph

Virat Kohli (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: After Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinched their second consecutive IPL title, star batsman Virat Kohli took to social media with a special message celebrating another historic season for the franchise.RCB beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final of IPL 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to successfully defend their crown. Kohli later shared a series of photos with the IPL trophy and teammates Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma and captain Rajat Patidar. “We asked ourselves the question last year – can we get back together? Here we are again,” Kohli captioned the post.At 37-and-a-half years old, Kohli continues to develop. The veteran batsman smashed the fastest T20 half-century of his career and fulfilled a long-cherished dream by hitting the winning runs in RCB’s title-winning chase. His unbeaten 75 proved to be the cornerstone of RCB’s second IPL trophy. “(It’s) the thing you dream about. I thought of this moment many times when I wanted to hit the winning run,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.When asked about his stunning 25-ball fifty, Kohli explained how he has adapted his approach to keep pace with the modern game.“Such is the demand (that) super-young players push (you) up,” he said jokingly, but the seriousness of his statement was not lost on anyone.“I had to change my mindset, not so much my game, take the bowlers and get extra runs,” he added. One of the most satisfying aspects of the season for Kohli was the team’s collective contribution. In the first 10 matches, eight different RCB players won the Player of the Match award, underscoring the depth of the squad.“We had to wait so long, and then just to have a group of guys where you feel like you’re stepping on the ground, you don’t have to be the one stepping up every time,” Kohli said.“These guys are behind you (and) around you who can win cricket for you. We also have many Man of the Match awards spread across the group.”“Look at the world-class bowling of Hoffa (Josh Hazlewood), Bhuv (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), Duffa (Jacob Duffy) and Krunal Pandya – you can count on him like always – Rasikh (Salam) Dar has been brilliant this season,” Kohli said.Kohli has been instrumental in the balance and quality of the squad assembled by the RCB management in the last two seasons.“I felt really relaxed coming in. The team we have gives us the confidence to handle any situation. (We) knew exactly what to do in the chase.He also emphasized that RCB were concentrating on their own cricket rather than worrying about the opposition.“Our first goal was to get to the top of the table. We didn’t care what jersey we had in front of us. We are respectful, we don’t poke at any team. We have mature professionals and experience shines through.”For Kohli, big occasions call for big performances from senior players.“Come to the big situation, you need the big guys to step up. I know it’s a chase and they’re going to try to get me out early, but I knew we had a champion who could make it 3-4 overs.”The former captain also revealed the message from Director of Cricket Mo Bobat after RCB’s first title in 2025, which became the driving force behind their title defence.“When we won last year, Mo Bobat said it’s not the end of the road and we have to go back to back. I told Venky (Venkatesh Iyer) at the start of the chase that we have to kill the game in the powerplay. It was absolutely clear.”Kohli believes that the current RCB squad has the right balance and strength across departments.“All the batsmen have stepped up as well. I feel so lucky to be playing in a group where we have balance, strength and are a strong all-round team and that’s why we have the confidence we have on the field now,” he said.He admitted that the pressure ahead of this year’s finals was significantly different to what the team experienced in 2025.“I told a few of the guys it wasn’t as much pressure as last year, we knew the ability we had in the group,” he said.“We got top of the table, there’s a reason we got here first and we just said one thing: ‘If we stick to our cricket, if we stick to our plans, we’re the best team in the competition’ and there’s a reason we’ve done well so far.”“We finished top of the league in the group stage and just the ability (that) we have, the maturity, the composure of the boys showed again tonight and it was a clinical performance that carried the whole tournament,” Kohli said.Kohli also recalled the crucial phase at the end of the season when RCB were tested after a short break before regaining momentum with a narrow win over Mumbai Indians in Raipur.“After the break we had a couple of losses… I mean one loss and then we narrowly won against MI,” he said.“I would say it was a bit of a tough week for us because we wanted to finish on top, but once we got there, (with) the win against MI, the belief came back, then we had a comprehensive win against KKR and then, yes, we finished top of the table and we’re on our way to the final,” Kohli said.

What aspect of RCB’s performance was most impressive?

Despite the final being played at Gujarat Titans’ home ground, Kohli was impressed with the support RCB received from the stands.“We’ve got 14 home games, not seven, we’ve got the fans behind us the whole time… 90 per cent of the fans are on our side despite it being GT’s home ground.”