Virat Kohli stars as RCB retain IPL title

Virat Kohli smashing the winning six as Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained their Indian Premier League title on Sunday, fulfilling a long-held dream for the cricketing superstar.

“I have thought of this moment many times, wanting to hit the winning run,” said Kohli, who was named player of the match.

Kohli, 37, hit an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls, sealing victory with his third six of the innings as Bengaluru completed the chase in front of more than 90,000 fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The former Bengaluru captain has been with the franchise since the inaugural 2008 season.

He said back-to-back titles were especially meaningful after the team lost IPL finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Kohli finished as Bengaluru’s leading scorer this season with 675 runs, taking his IPL career tally to a record 9,336 runs, including 68 fifties and nine hundreds.

“I just take a lot of pride in getting better and trying to figure out areas where I can improve,” Kohli said, crediting younger players for pushing him to adapt to the demands of modern T20 cricket.

Hello on this bright Monday! This is Shakeel from DW’s Delhi Studio, bringing you the latest updates from across India.

First up, the good news: the Delhi heatwave has eased, and the mornings are pleasant again.

Now to Sunday’s biggest story: Royal Challengers Bengaluru have retained their IPL title. Virat Kohli led from the front with an unbeaten knock as RCB defeated the Gujarat Titans.

Meanwhile, the government faced criticism from Rahul Gandhi, who alleged instances of “fraud” in India’s premier national school board exams.

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