After 17 long years, atoned are the auspicious moments bestowed upon the Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they finally emerged to hold the IPL champions. Rajat Patidar's side managed to steal a narrow victory by six runs against Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad and etched their name in the IPL for the very first time. Kohli, in his career-defining moment, managed to taste success even after ending up in the losing side in three finals. He set an example by leading from the front scoring an authoritative top-score of 43 runs and then he painted a brilliant picture of bowling-who helped restrict Punjab Kings to a convincing individual victory. Both RCB and Punjab Kings went through major retention and auction phase changes before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. RCB chose to retain just three players-Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal-and then concentrated on building a streamlined core. With Dinesh Karthik as mentor and batting coach, Andy Flower as head coach, and Mo Bobat as director of cricket, RCB filled some key gaps in the lineup. ππ ππππ πππ πππππ! β€Congratulations, @RCBTweets! π€©LIVE NOW β‘ https://t.co/XmOkxMNq4t#IPLFinals π Trophy Presentation on Star Sports Network & JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/Ud1PcaaDtf — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 3, 2025 Patidar excelled in his new-found captaincy, while Kohli kept piling on the runs. Explosive starts for RCB came from Phil Salt, who had moved there from KKR; the pacers were led by Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with Krunal Pandya playing a significant role in his new colours. RCB sustained an invasion of away wins, turning away defeats into a streak of victories. They won against CSK in Chennai for the first time since 2008 and at Wankhede after 10 years. RCB won all seven league games on the road and then added another crucial victory in Qualifier 1 against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur. Patidar continuously set the pace, and others stepped up over the course of the season: Romario Shepherd smashed the second-fastest IPL fifty, and Jacob Bethell slotted in with a critical fifty when Phil Salt was absent. Jitesh Sharma turned up one of the best knocks of the season with 85—his maiden IPL half-century—to send RCB into Qualifier 1. In that contest, Suyash Sharma's three wickets destroyed PBKS for just 101. Also Read | Watch: Virat Kohli Cries After RCB Win Maiden IPL Title Going into the final, all the top seven RCB batsmen scored in double digits to post 190 on the board. Here, Krunal Pandya arrested Punjab's momentum by dismissing Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis. Then Hazlewood, Dayal, Bhuvneshwar, and Romario delivered strikes when they mattered most to gather the credits for the win. For years, RCB had to depend upon Kohli. Throughout the 2010s, he did so with Gayle and de Villiers beside him, breaking records but never securing that elusive trophy. But finally, in 2025, 18 seasons later, Kohli now has the silverware. Today, that No. 18 jersey means a lot more.