Two IPL trivia questions have forever been my favourites. They have to be delivered as a precise one-two punch though, if you want to really stump someone. The first is a softener - "Who is the only player to have played for one franchise in every single season of the tournament?" No IPL fan worth their salt will ever get this one wrong. But then comes the googly - "How much was Virat Kohli sold for in the very first IPL auction?"
The correct answer is - Virat was never auctioned. Just like he was never left out of RCB retention lists, for any season. This also meant that Virat never went into a single IPL auction pool. The team backed him to the hilt and in return he gave the Bengaluru franchise his all, after his home franchise - Delhi - decided not to pick him in the pre-season draft in 2008. On Tuesday night, when the ever-loyal Virat wiped away his happy tears and finally became an IPL champion after 18 gruelling years (essentially his entire senior cricket career), his words summed up just what he has given RCB and its fans over almost two decades - "I've given this team my youth, my prime and my experience."
If the 2011 ODI World Cup win was for Sachin Tendulkar, this one was for Virat. He might not have been the on-paper captain, but every member of the RCB squad looked up to him as their biggest leader. RCB, after all, is synonymous with Virat Kohli. For both the players and the fans, the wait was a two-pronged one. One - to be crowned IPL champions and two - to help Virat finally achieve his dream of standing on the winners' podium. It was a dream 18 years in the making and one that only die-hard RCB fans and loyalists, like Virat himself, believed in.
It takes a special kind of commitment and faith to continue to believe, to hope, despite season after season of heartbreak and the headlines screaming tales of the team being so close, yet so far. Like in the 2016 season, when Virat, who was then captain and in blistering form, racked up a mind-boggling tally of 973 runs, with four centuries, and took RCB to the final, only to lose by 8 runs to SRH. But when the dream does become a reality, you thank that part of you that never stopped believing.
Virat, who will turn 37 in five months, would have had his doubts as seasons went by and the wait for that elusive first title continued. He has bid adieu to Test cricket, to T20i cricket. He has won the ODI World Cup, the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy. How many IPL seasons he has left in him, despite his superhuman fitness levels, is anyone's guess. His and RCB's wait for the title was 6,255 days long. The team had played three IPL finals before this and had faltered at the final hurdle every time. He must have been tempted to switch franchises. But he didn't. He wanted to become an IPL champion in RCB colours. The team has always believed in him. He wanted to believe in the team.
This season, in fact, began with talk of how this might be the year Virat finally becomes IPL champion. It was the 18th season, RCB's wait for the trophy was 18 years long, Virat wears RCB jersey number 18. Though the promotions run by the host broadcaster had distinct numerology undertones, it made one wonder if the stars would actually align this time for a player who has given his heart and soul to one team, who puts in his 100% every single time he steps onto a cricket field, the all-time leading run-getter in IPL history (8,661 runs in 259 innings), someone who holds the record for the most centuries (8), the most fours (771), someone who is synonymous with consistency and was part of the evolution of the IPL and of RCB from their inception, who grew up with the league and went from U-19 star to global cricketing superstar. Who saw, learnt and imbibed what T20 cricket is all about in the league, how it can be fickle and how there's no such thing as a favourite team.
This season looked and felt different. The one thing that RCB had lacked in most seasons was a team in which most players were match winners. A season where the team really came together as a unit - one which was not overtly dependent on a handful of players. As Anjum Chopra, former India captain, told me some time ago - "The orchestra needs to play in harmony." Which is why despite having magicians like Virat, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mitchell Starc, Yuvraj Singh, Ross Taylor, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, Aaron Finch, amongst others in their ranks, over the years, they couldn't clinch the title.
This season, incredibly, in the 16 matches RCB played this season, they had as many as nine different Man-of-the-Match award winners. New signings like Phil Salt and Tim David delivered, Josh Hazlewood picked up the moniker of 'Hazlegod'. The likes of Krunal Pandya - the Man of the Match in the final against Punjab Kings - new captain Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Suyash Sharma, Romario Shepherd and others put up their hands and delivered at crucial junctures. The suspension of the league also helped the team regroup. And of course, as always, there was Virat Kohli. This was the 11th time in 18 seasons that he accumulated over 400 runs.
And just that tells the story of just how dedicated he has been to the RCB franchise. Regardless of where the team finished on the points table, Virat the batter was almost always firing. And even when he wasn't, there was no shortage of intent. Anjum told me, "....if you want to define consistency, look no further than Virat Kohli. I say this to the (Indian) women players as well. I tell them - 'why are you looking for any role model anywhere else? You only have to look at your own country and you only have to look in one direction." That is the legacy that Virat has managed to build for himself.
What most people get to see is the player on the day of the match. What they don't see are the endless hours of practice, the workouts and the fitness sessions, the punishing diet and routine, the dedication, the silent determination and of course the undying belief. And in many ways, it was the belief in the franchise that the team's biggest superstar showed that rubbed off on the fans. RCB is one of the most popular IPL teams and its fan-base is not just limited to the city of Bengaluru. Virat's star-power and charisma and his own staunch loyalty for the franchise is what was echoed by thousands of RCB fans. 'If Virat believes, we believe.'
On Tuesday, at the Ahmedabad stadium, a crowd of approximately 92,000 turned up to watch the season finale. Most of them were in the RCB red. They were there for the team and for their hero - Virat Kohli. There's no doubt that Virat is to Bengaluru what MS Dhoni is to Chennai. The only difference is that the CSK fans are used to their team bringing home the trophy; the RCB fans had never tasted sweet glory before this year and yet bled red. Just like a certain Virat Kohli.
(The author is a former sports editor and primetime sports news anchor. He is currently a columnist, features writer and stage actor)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
