AHMEDABAD - Virat Kohli fulfilled a long-held dream, lofting the ball for a six to seal a memorable victory as Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained the Indian Premier League title on Sunday.
Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Kohli, 37, smashed an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls, sealing the chase with a six as the crowd roared his name.
"I've thought of this moment many times… to be standing there hitting the winning runs. It's a dream day for us," Kohli said.
Kohli, who has been with the franchise since the inaugural 2008 season and led them for nine years, said winning successive titles carried added significance given the team lost in three finals earlier.
The India batter finished as Bengaluru's leading scorer this season with 675 runs, recorded his fastest IPL fifty, and now has 68 half-centuries and nine hundreds. He has scored 9,336 runs in the league, the most in IPL history.