विराट कोहली के लिए आईपीएल में आखिरकार न्याय

IPL poetic justice for Virat Kohli, finally

Is there a case for comparison between Virat Kohli and Lionel Messi? The Argentine won nearly every major football trophy at both club and individual levels – multiple Champions League titles, multiple Ballon d'Ors, multiple domestic league crowns, and even a continental triumph with Argentina. But for years, the FIFA World Cup remained the elusive piece of silverware – until the 2022 FIFA World Cup happened.

Kohli's case was similar but presented a kind of reverse vacuum. He had won it all – the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2008, the ODI World Cup in 2011, Champions Trophies in 2013 and 2025, multiple Asia Cups, the ICC Test Mace (for three consecutive years), and the T20 World Cup in 2024. One trophy, though, continued to elude him – the IPL. That was only till Tuesday night. That gap too was filled, just as Messi completed his legacy journey in 2022.

"For him it's all about winning games for RCB," said Mike Hesson, hailing Kohli for his passion, longevity, intensity and loyalty. Kohli is one of the four players active since the IPL's inception in 2008 – MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Manish Pandey being the other three – and the only one to have stayed with the same franchise for all 18 seasons. Even Dhoni and Rohit do not have that distinction. The IPL glory is poetic justice.

"I for one am absolutely delighted for him. I don't think anyone deserved it more for the amount he's given and the dedication and the patience, I guess the patience and commitment to RCB to keep pushing to win that first title. So there was a real desire, hunger and genuineness about it. So yeah, I watched it from afar and egged on RCB. I'm as happy as anyone," Hesson stated.

Most runs in the IPL (8661, leads the second placed batter by more than 1500 runs), most 500-plus runs (eight) in an IPL edition, third most IPL caps (267), 10 appearances in the IPL play-offs, four final appearances, most hundreds (eight), most fifties (63), maximum runs in a season (973 in 2016) and most fours (771) – few players are more deserving of the IPL honours. After his 43 in the final versus Punjab Kings, Kohli has taken his runs tally to 657 runs, third highest of the season.

"Look, when I think about Virat, I talk about the intensity that he brings from a team perspective," Hesson, who worked with Kohli for three years at RCB as coach, remarked. "And that to me, along with the fact he's had five seasons of 600-plus runs… they dictate the outcome of the games."

One of the most extraordinary aspects of Kohli is his evolution – he has stayed relevant to the league from Season 1 in 2008 to Season 18 in 2025 even as the cricket itself, more so T20 cricket, kept changing. "He's evolved with the game. So the fact the game pace has changed, scores are higher, he hasn't got lost in that. You know, he's actually just, he's just pushed himself and he's got better and you know, strike rates have improved."

Every new generation is known to bat faster than the previous one – like Dhoni and Rohit batting faster than Sachin, Jaiswal batting faster than Rohit and now the likes of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre bat faster than Jaiswal. Even as the new generations started dominating, Kohli kept evolving and kept bucking the trend and kept staying relevant to the team's cause. His strike rate over the last two seasons is higher than his career strike rate.

He is like an avalanche, says R Sridhar, a former India fielding coach, who has worked with him for eight years. "What stands out most about Virat are his passion, longevity, and unwavering intensity. Even after 18 years, he brings the same fire, the same impact, and the same fierce commitment that marked his debut season. His intensity becomes even more evident when compared to others who've been around since the early years – it simply hasn't dimmed. And Virat's influence extends well beyond RCB. His dedication to fitness and discipline has inspired others across teams to adopt similar regimens. He's like an avalanche – starting small, but eventually growing into a towering force."