Bengaluru and Punjab eye numero uno IPL trophy as they meet in Final today. Will Kohli's 18-year wait end?
What is 18 years? It's a lifetime of wait for some in the jigsaw called the Indian Premier League. Some have eaten the lion's share while most have had to lick their wounds while heading home. The inaugural winners were crowned barely six months after India's World T20 triumph on September 24th, 2007. Since that Johannesburg euphoria, the Indian billion-dollar baby has seen seven champions and in a parallel cricketing universe, the national team has won a World Cup, two Champions Trophies, another T20 World Cup, been second-best in two Test Championship finals and have held the mace for being the best side in the world in Test matches multiple times.
What's more? Sachin Tendulkar has retired, and so have Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (from Tests and T20s), Gautam Gambhir played his IPL innings, retired, played a political knock and is now the Indian coach. And, the league's most expensive player has moved from captain, wicket-keeper to captain, wicket-keeper-- Rs 6 cr to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2008 to Rs 27 cr to Rishabh Pant for 2025 season.
But, what has remained a fact since the beginning is that both
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
(RCB) and
Punjab Kings
(PBKS) have not won the IPL trophy. That will change as both teams lock horns for the crown in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
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Story within the story? Kohli has not won the big one even if his team has made the final thrice — 2009, 2011 and 2016. He has been in fine form this season too with 614 runs across 14 innings and eight fifties—at better than a half century every two innings. In his last three knocks, he has one score of over 50 and made 1 2 against Punjab in Qualifier 1 during the eight-wicket victory.
Wouldn't Punjab be wary? For, Kohli the batter—with all his experience— knows how to win a big match. India vs Pakistan, and the semifinal against Australia in the Champions Trophy; 2024 T20 World Cup final; 2022 T20 WC knock against Pakistan. Batting first or chasing, he would have planned this one to the hilt.
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But then, the mighty Mumbai Indians' juggernaut had plans in Qualifier 2. And what did Shreyas Iyer do on Sunday night at the same ground? He made an unbeaten 87 from 41 balls with eight sixes and five fours, ably supported by Josh Inglis (38) and Nehal Wadhera (48). A run chase of 203 was cerebrally overhauled, and never did Punjab looked out of sorts, winning by five wickets and an over to spare.
In the process, he became the only one to lead three teams into a final (Delhi Capitals in 2020 and Kolkata Knight Riders to title last year, he was also to do it with two). Will PBKS be second time lucky after having made it to the pinnacle clash just once, in 2014?
It's a rare midweek final where 'Kohli(and Bengaluru) finally winning it' could be the underlying theme and 'RCB, RCB' chants would overwhelm an expected full house. But Punjab of 2025, packs a punch.
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