New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) Former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody said watching Virat Kohli get emotional over Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning IPL 2025 was almost as if a younger version of him had resurfaced, celebrating and rejoicing emotionally over the side’s first-ever title win.

RCB winning the IPL 2025 final with a six-run win over Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad marked a full-circle moment for the franchise and Kohli, who has been with the team since 2008, finally getting their hands on the elusive trophy.

Incidentally, Kohli was the top-scorer for RCB in the final with 43, and his overall run tally in the season became 657 as they posted an imposing 190/9. Once it became clear that RCB were going to win the title, Kohli fell to the ground and was so overcome with emotion that his face fell on the turf before his team-mates came to hug him.

“His cricketing career was nearly born at RCB. So that’s why I think he’s so emotional, because he’s been so invested as a young player with a young mind, without knowing the body of work that he’s going to do in the game and that status that he was going to get in the game.

“So you can see the connection that this has to him, because he’s been through all those ups and downs. We saw the stats earlier on about how many times RCB have made the finals in the 18 seasons. Ten times (in the playoffs). Four times final. You can see why he’s emotional. It’s nearly like the young Virat Kohli coming out of him, just celebrating and rejoicing in an emotional way,” said Moody on ESPNCricinfo.

Varun Aaron, the former India fast-bowler who also played for RCB, spoke about the importance of this IPL triumph for both Kohli and the franchise. “He (Kohli) has been the king of the castle in RCB for 18 years. At the end of the day, if they haven’t won a trophy, the first person they’re going to look at is Virat Kohli.

“And Virat Kohli, he loves to win. He can’t take second as even an option. So this is huge for him. Also, the kind of adoration and love he gets from the fans, from the franchise, is just huge. And this is what they’ve been expecting for the longest time. It has come good.

“RCB have been the most loved team in the Indian Premier League by far. And now I don’t know where Virat’s going to go after this. He’s the biggest Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar, I would say, who’s played day in, day out for 18 years; he’s hardly ever missed matches, he’s hardly ever missed IPLs, and he’s turned up season after season.

“And given everything, when fans see the main player give everything on the field, with bat and even on the field, they’re obviously going to feel that, you know what, this guy deserves something. RCB has had its role in making Virat, but Virat has also made the franchise,” he concluded.

–IANS

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