After 17 years of struggles, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally lifted their maiden IPL trophy in 2025. The Rajat Patidar-led side carried its form into IPL 2026 and became only the third team to successfully retain the title. RCB defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2026 final to become a two-time IPL champion. Virat Kohli shone in the final and played a match-winning knock of 75. Even though he isn’t the captain now, Kohli is always in the spotlight and he gets the maximum attention.
Following RCB’s title win, RCB head coach Andy Flower talked about the spotlight on Kohli and opined that he is the “heartbeat” in RCB’s dressing room.
“Virat, I know you get a lot of attention and quite rightly. But I don’t want to downplay that because you are a heartbeat in this dressing room. And the courage that you continually show to go out there and put yourself on the line and take on high-quality opposition is a bloody great role modeling for all of us,” Flower said in a video released by RCB.
“When I think of our season, and I particularly think of the last couple of games in the playoffs, what really stands out for me is the bravery of you guys in the middle. There have been countless examples of it. But when you’re playing at the top level, and that’s Test cricket or World Cups or IPL, you need to be obviously highly skilful. You need to have cricket intelligence, but you really need to have heart. And we’ve seen that in abundance this year,” he added.
Virat Kohli has been with RCB since 2008
Virat Kohli has been playing for RCB since the tournament’s inception in 2008. He is the only player in the league’s history to play for one team in every season.
RCB spotted a future star in Kohli and he was the only player they retained before the IPL 2011 mega-auction. He was appointed RCB’s full-time captain in 2013. RCB struggled under his captaincy and only made it to one IPL final.
Kohli, who quit as RCB’s captain after IPL 2021, now plays under Rajat Patidar. Faf du Plessis captained RCB from IPL 2022 to 2024.
