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I had many times imagined playing the winning shot in the final: Virat Kohli

By Samira Vishwas

Ahmedabad, 1 June. Virat Kohli, who led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to the second consecutive title by playing an unbeaten match-winning inning of 75 runs against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final of Tata Indian Premier League (IPL-19) 2026 on Sunday night, said that he had imagined many times playing the winning shot in the final and the thought of making it victorious often came to his mind.

‘This is the moment every player dreams of’

Kohli, who put the final seal on the team’s victory by hitting a brilliant six against Arshad Khan on the last ball of the 18th over of the match, said after receiving the ‘Player of the Match’ award, ‘This is the moment which every player dreams of. I had imagined this moment many times, especially scoring the winning run. I was completely comfortable when I came out to bat. The combination of our team is such that it gives us the confidence to come out of any situation.

Kohli, who has scored more than 600 runs in the IPL for the fourth consecutive season, said he was completely clear about his role and strategy while chasing the target. He said, ‘I knew what to do in the run-chase. The presence of young players inspires you to constantly improve your game and accept new challenges.

On the fastest half-century (25 balls) of his IPL career, he said, ‘It gives you the aim to continuously improve. I didn’t have to make any major changes in my game but had to change my thinking. There was a need to score extra runs by putting pressure on the bowlers.

The first goal of the team was to achieve the top position in the points table.

Virat said that the first goal of the team was to achieve the top position in the points table. He said, ‘Once we reached the top, it did not matter which team was in front of us. We respect all teams and do not believe in provoking anyone. We have experienced and mature professional players and this experience comes in handy in big matches.

On big occasions, big players have to come forward and shoulder the responsibility.

He said, ‘On big occasions, big players have to come forward and fulfill the responsibility. I knew that while chasing the target, the opposition team would try to get me out early, but I had full faith in my team. I was confident that our champion team could achieve the target with three-four overs remaining.

‘For us every match feels like a home match’

Praising RCB fans, Kohli said, ‘For us every match feels like a home match. We have 14 home matches, not just seven, because the fans are with us everywhere. Even at the home ground of Gujarat Titans, almost 90 percent of the spectators were in our support.

Many match-winning players are the biggest strength of the current team.

Earlier, he told the broadcasters that the biggest strength of the current RCB team is that it has many match-winning players and they do not need to step forward alone and fulfill the responsibility every time. He said, ‘We had to wait for this moment for a very long time. Now we have such a group with whom, while taking the field, you feel that you do not have to step forward and take responsibility every time. There are players in the team who stand with you and can win the match for you.

Virat in 16 matches 165.84 With the wonderful stride of 675 scored runs

Kohli scored 675 runs in 16 matches this season at an average of 56.25 and an excellent strike rate of 165.84 and played an important role in the team becoming the champion. However, he gave credit for the victory to the entire team. This great batsman said, ‘There are many match-winning players in our team, which is proof that the contribution is not limited to just one or two players.’

The team’s bowling attack was highly praised

Praising the team’s bowling attack, Virat said, ‘We have world-class bowlers like Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy and Krunal Pandya. Krunal has always been reliable while rasikh Salam Dar has performed brilliantly this season.

‘I am very happy to be a part of this group‘

He said that the team’s batsmen also contributed when needed and this balance is the biggest strength of RCB. Kohli said, ‘I feel very happy to be a part of this group. We have balance, depth and we are a strong team in every department. This is why our confidence on the field also appears to be of a different level.

Champion RCB captain Patidar said – ‘Whenever I see Virat bhai, he is always there for the team’

This time the pressure of the final was less compared to last year.

Admitting that the pressure of the final this time was different compared to last year, Kohli said that the team had full confidence in its ability. He said, ‘I told some players that this time they are not feeling the same pressure as last year. We knew how much potential our group had. We topped the points table and there was a reason for it. We only said one thing that if we play our natural cricket and implement the plans properly then we will be the best team in the competition.

Close win against MI reinvigorates players’ confidence

Kohli said that the skill, maturity and patience shown by the team throughout the season resulted in title success. He said that the team faced some difficult situations after the short break in the middle of the season, but the close win against Mumbai Indians (MI) reinvigorated the confidence of the players.

IPL-19: King Kohli shines after lethal bowling, RCB successful in title defence, GT’s batting flops on title front

He said, ‘After the break we suffered a defeat and had to play a very close match against Mumbai Indians. That week was challenging for us because we wanted to be on top in the league stage. But the team’s confidence returned after the win against Mumbai. After this we registered an impressive win against Kolkata Knight Riders, topped the table and then reached the final.

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