Retired from international cricket, Virat Kohli’s final mission is to lead RCB to IPL glory

Eighteen years. Three heart-wrenching finals. A city that chants his name and a franchise that breathes his legacy. For Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, this isn't just another season of the Indian Premier League — it's possibly the last crusade in a story defined by fierce loyalty, unmet dreams, and relentless passion.

With Test and T20I retirements behind him, Kohli’s international obligations have narrowed to sporadic ODI appearances. His full attention now orbits around RCB — a franchise he's embodied like a second skin. Through triumphs and tribulations, Kohli and RCB have endured — less like a fairy-tale romance and more like a timeworn yet tenacious marriage, weathered but unbreakable.

It’s no surprise that ahead of RCB’s crucial clash with Kolkata Knight Riders, Chinnaswamy Stadium turned into a pilgrimage site. Fans in white Kohli Test jerseys packed the nets. Rumors swirl of thousands arriving just to watch him — not merely as a cricketer, but as a phenomenon chasing closure.

A dream deferred — and burned in memory

Three times Kohli stood on the brink of IPL glory. Each time, heartbreak struck. 2009, 2011, and most hauntingly, 2016 — a season in which he amassed a record-breaking 973 runs only to fall short by eight cruel runs in the final.

“To this date, when there’s a highlight package of that game, KL takes screenshots and says it still hurts. And it does,” Kohli recalled, in a rare vulnerable moment on JioStar. The wounds of that loss — compounded by another near-miss in the 2016 World T20 — linger as emotional scar tissue in a career otherwise glittering with accolades.

Since then, RCB has oscillated between inconsistency and resurgence. But in recent years, especially post-pandemic, the ship has steadied. The franchise reached the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, and 2024 looks no different. Kohli is again at the heart of the charge, racking up 505 runs at a blistering strike rate of 143.47.

The liberation of letting go

Ironically, stepping down from the captaincy brought Kohli his creative second wind. No longer shackled by leadership burdens, he now plays with unfiltered joy. The swagger is back — the audacious flicks, the cheeky upper-cuts, the smile that lights up Chinnaswamy under the floodlights.

Across the last three seasons, Kohli has averaged nearly 60 with a strike rate touching 146 — elite numbers by any standard. If this is indeed his final flourish, it’s one written with the elegance of a seasoned maestro and the fire of a young prodigy who once dreamt big in a hotel room in Kuala Lumpur.

The call of destiny

That RCB landed Kohli in the first place was part serendipity, part instinct. Back in 2008, when franchises were picking U-19 players, Delhi Daredevils passed on their hometown boy. RCB pounced — a move that would shape the course of their identity. “All we took was one-by-millionth of a second to choose him,” former RCB CEO Charu Sharma said.

The rest is living folklore.

From a spirited teenager who celebrated his ₹20 lakh deal with jubilant screams in a KL corridor, Kohli has become the living heartbeat of a franchise still chasing its first title — the league’s only one-club wonder, a phenomenon whose myth rivals that of even MS Dhoni.

Two icons, two cities, one legacy

The Kohli-Bengaluru bond, however, is different from Dhoni’s divine status in Chennai. Where CSK's love for their 'Thala' is immediate and almost spiritual, Bengaluru’s affection for Kohli is more complex — earned, evolved, and quietly profound.

This city doesn’t fawn. It respects space, shuns star-worship, and lets its icons blend in. In its cosmopolitan fabric, Kohli found a fitting reflection of his own traits — urbane, aggressive, unapologetically modern. The love might not be devotional, but it is enduring.

Now, as the league nears its crescendo and RCB closes in on a playoff berth, one question looms: Will fate finally deliver what loyalty and brilliance alone haven’t?

Because in the grand theatre of the IPL, no story deserves a fairytale ending more than this one.