Kohli earned the Player-of-the-Match award in the IPL 2026 final against GT.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defended their IPL title by beating Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31).
After winning the toss, RCB put in an excellent bowling performance to restrict GT to 155/8 in 20 overs. Rasikh Salam Dar bagged three wickets, while Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with a couple of scalps each.
Chasing a target of 156, Virat Kohli produced an unbeaten knock of 75 in 42 balls to take RCB over the line with five wickets and two overs to spare. Along the way, Kohli slammed the fastest half-century of his IPL career in just 25 balls.
After receiving the Player-of-the-Match award, Kohli expressed that it was a dream come true for him to hit the winning runs in the IPL final. He mentioned that the squad felt incredibly relaxed and confident heading into the summit clash, which allowed them to stay calm under the pressure of a chase.
"Well, it’s the stuff that you dream of. I’ve thought of this moment many times, that, you know, once when we win the IPL, I should be standing there hitting the winning runs and tonight it was possible. So yeah, just a dream day for us. And as I mentioned straight after the game as well, we just felt really relaxed coming to the game today and really confident about how we wanted to go about our game and what kind of team we have. And that gives you confidence to just, you know, see any kind of situation through. But yeah, in a chase, I felt really comfortable out there knowing exactly what to do," Kohli said during the post-match presentation.
Talking about hitting his fastest IPL fifty in his 19th season, the RCB stalwart credited the younger generation for pushing him to elevate his strike rate and score those crucial extra 20-30 runs.
"I mean, such is the demand of the sport today. I mean, you have these, you know, super young players pushing you all the time and really asking you to change your game and up the ante. And it’s an exciting situation because it gives you something to improve on, something to work towards. And yeah, I just take a lot of pride in getting better and just trying to figure out areas where I can improve. So yeah, it was just a case of the demands of today’s modern game where you need to get those 20, 30 extra runs. And I had to kind of change my mindset, not my game so much to hit the shots I hit, but more often and take the bowlers on, probably the best bowlers in the opposition. That was always my target. So very happy I was able to contribute towards the team cause," he added.
Reflecting on RCB’s championship mindset, Kohli asserted that the team set an objective to finish at the top of the table and they approached the finals focusing strictly on their own professional execution rather than who they were playing.
"(On the clarity within the group after last year’s title) Absolutely. I mean, the first target was to finish top of the table. We achieved that. And then after that, it was just about… you know, a lot of people asked us, who do you prefer in the finals? And we said, it doesn’t matter for us. We don’t care what jersey is in front of us. We are playing great cricket. We want to focus on RCB and not the other teams. And we’re going to be respectful of all the other teams. We don’t poke any other team. We’re very happy to carry on playing professional cricket. We have a lot of mature players in the group, a lot of experienced guys, and the experience always shines through in difficult situations. You can have all the excitement and slam-bang in the world, but come the big situations, you need the big boys to step up. And that’s exactly what we did," he stated.
Kohli commended RCB's management for a squad perfectly built for stability and depth. He noted that even if he got out early, there was full confidence that others would finish the job.
"(On different players stepping up throughout the season) Absolutely. I mean, even tonight, I know it’s a chase and they probably look to get me out early, but I was very confident that even if I get out early, we have a champion team that’s going to finish the job, you know, three or four overs to go. So when you have that kind of confidence, you can go out there and really take the bowlers on. And I think that’s credit to the management, the way they stacked up the squad, the talent of the players, the belief that the players have shown. And we stand here champions back-to-back, which is a special feat. That’s exactly what Mo Bobat said when we won last year, that it’s not the end of the road. We’re going to look to go back-to-back. And that’s exactly what we ended up achieving. So we’re really proud of us as a team," he remarked.
Kohli revealed he told opening partner Venkatesh Iyer in the change room to "kill the game" during the powerplay. With total clarity, the pair brought up the 50-run mark in just 3.3 overs—setting the record for the fastest team fifty in an IPL final.
"(On the opening partnership) Yeah, I mean, simple chat to Venky in the change room. And I just told him one thing, we need to kill the game in the power play. And he said, yeah, let’s go. So it was total clarity. There was no doubt at any stage when both of us were going. We just wanted to strike. We just wanted to take the bowlers on because we knew in a big game, if you lose a couple of wickets, things can get tricky. So never let the run rate go up to seven and a half, eight. And then we had small targets in mind. You know, when you get the score under those targets, then you can really go and play free cricket. So, yeah, credit to Venkatesh as well. He stepped in and did a beautiful job up top. And his intent was probably the difference maker for us in the last three or four games," he explained.
Kohli noted that despite the match taking place at GT's home venue in Ahmedabad, 90% of the crowd were RCB supporters. Because they travel so well, he views all 14 league matches as home fixtures.
"(Message for the RCB fans) I mean, I always say we don’t have seven home games. We probably have 14 because everywhere we go, we have fans cheering the team and, you know, really getting behind us. I mean, GT is probably the home side, but you see 90 percent of the guys are RCB fans. So that’s what we’ve earned over the years and we just continue to make them proud and try to put our best foot forward. And yeah, their support is priceless and really happy that they can celebrate us lifting the trophy tonight and witness that," he concluded.