RCB retained IPL title due to Virat Kohli’s brilliant performance

Virat Kohli hit the winning six as Royal Challengers Bangalore retained the Indian Premier League title on Sunday, fulfilling the cricket superstar’s long-cherished dream.

Kohli, who was named player of the match, said, “I have thought about this moment many times, I want to score the winning runs.”

The 37-year-old Kohli smashed an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls and sealed the win with his third six of the innings as Bengaluru completed the chase in front of over 90,000 fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The former Bengaluru captain has been with the franchise since the inaugural 2008 season.

He said the back-to-back titles were especially meaningful after the team lost IPL finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Kohli remained Bengaluru’s leading scorer this season with 675 runs, taking his IPL career tally to a record 9,336 runs, which included 68 fifties and nine centuries.

Kohli credited the young players for inspiring them to adapt to the demands of modern T20 cricket, saying, “I take a lot of pride in getting better and trying to find areas where I can improve.”

Hello on this bright Monday! I’m Shakeel from DW’s Delhi studio, bringing you the latest updates from across India.

First, the good news: The heat has subsided in Delhi, and the mornings have become pleasant again.

Now onto the biggest story of Sunday: Royal Challengers Bangalore have retained their IPL title. Virat Kohli led from the front and played an unbeaten innings as RCB defeated Gujarat Titans.

Meanwhile, the government faced criticism from Rahul Gandhi, who alleged instances of “cheating” in India’s flagship National School Board examinations.

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