Virat Kohli considers himself fortunate to have played for just one franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) since the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Kohli featured in the first-ever IPL match which was played between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Kohli scored only 1 but Brendon McCullum of KKR scored 158* and lit up the league that's since then gone on to become one of the most followed and lucrative sporting leagues.
Kohli has since then gone on to score over 7,000 runs for RCB in the IPL, 7044 to be exact, at an average of 36.50 with a strike-rate of 129.41 in 234 matches. He has struck five hundreds and 50 fifties. He also led the franchise in 141 matches, winning 68 and losing 71.
Unfortunately for Kohli and RCB, the IPL title has eluded them so far despite reaching the final thrice in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
Despite this, the 34-year-old cherishes every moment he has spent with the franchise in the last 15 years, as he's the only player ever to feature for the same team from 2008 till now in the IPL.
“I feel really fortunate to have played for one franchise from day one,” Kohli said at an event.
“It’s been a constant relationship based on trust from both ends that we are working for the same thing and the value that I have seen fans connecting with me very organically is because of the fact that we play the game for the right reasons,”
“I am really honoured and fortunate to be here for so long, in a place where I absolutely love coming to every year and start the IPL journey all over again. So, it’s always very exciting,” he added.
Kohli has shown good form scoring 420 runs in 11 matches in the ongoing season with six fifties, while RCB's season has so far been up and down with 5 wins and 6 losses. They now need to win their remaining three matches to give themselves a good chance of qualifying for the IPL 2023 playoffs.
