Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar on Sunday said Virat Kohli is “used to doing great things” and his presence in the dressing room was invaluable after they won their second successive Indian Premier League title.
The 37-year-old Kohli anchored Bengaluru’s chase of 156 against Gujarat Titans in the final with an unbeaten 75 to steer the team home with two overs to spare in Ahmedabad.
Bengaluru and Kohli have dominated the T20 tournament since they won their first IPL crown at the 18th attempt last year.
“If I speak about Virat Kohli, I don’t have words to explain him. He is used to doing great things,” Patidar told reporters.
“He is a great player, everyone knows him – the way he bats. We all have an opportunity to learn from him on and off the field. We spend lot of time with him and try to learn whatever he says, regarding cricket or anything else.”
Patidar added, “He reaches out to players to talk about cricket. I always keep watching him — what he does and the one thing is that his energy in the nets is same as it is in the match.”
Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the star opener sealed victory with a six to cap a magnificent 42-ball innings featuring nine fours and three sixes.
Kohli, who has stepped away from Test cricket and T20 internationals, remains a superstar cricketer and the biggest crowd-puller in the sport.
Kohli’s iconic number 18 jersey dominated the stands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s biggest cricket ground which recorded an official attendance of over 90,000 spectators.
Bengaluru’s win took Patidar in elite company as only the third captain to win back-to-back IPL titles.
MS Dhoni achieved the feat with Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and 2011, while Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians to glory in 2019 and 2020.
“Last year was a lot of pressure, this year was more calm because the way we played throughout the tournament, we dominated this year,” said Patidar.
“We were pretty much confident that if we are playing like this we are definitely going to win the second title for RCB.”
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 to the team’s entire journey where they lost in three finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
The India batter, who now features only in one-day internationals, also underlined his continued evolution in Twenty20 cricket.
He finished as Bengaluru’s leading scorer this season with 675 runs and recorded his fastest IPL fifty, taking his overall tally to 68 half-centuries and nine hundreds.
“I just take a lot of pride in getting better and just trying to figure out areas where I can improve,” he said.
Kohli, who has scored 9,336 runs in the league – the most in IPL history – said adapting to the demands of modern T20 cricket, driven by a new generation of aggressive batters, had been key to sustaining success.
Source: Khaleej Times