Virat Kohli leads RCB to IPL title as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi takes MVP
Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru successfully defend their Indian Premier League title against Gujarat Titans, while teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi swept the end-of-season awards.
The defending champions chased down a target of 156 with two overs to spare in Ahmedabad to secure a five-wicket victory.
India’s veteran batting icon delivered a masterclass, hitting the fastest half-century of his IPL career in a 42-ball blitz.
He sealed the triumph in spectacular fashion, launching Arshad Khan for six to wrap up back-to-back titles for the franchise.
Sooryavanshi dominates season honours
Despite the Bengaluru outfit lifting the trophy, the tournament’s individual accolades belonged entirely to a 15-year-old prodigy.
Rajasthan Royals’ breakout star became the first player in history to win both the Most Valuable Player and Emerging Player awards in the same campaign.
He also claimed the prestigious Orange Cap, finishing as the leading run-scorer with a staggering 776 runs across 16 innings.
His unprecedented strike rate of 237.30 and a record-breaking tally of 72 sixes firmly established the teenager as the sport’s newest global superstar.
‘Super young players pushing you’
The emergence of the young opener drew inevitable comparisons to the phenomenal 973-run season produced by India’s talisman in 2016.
Acknowledging the shifting landscape of modern cricket, the match-winner credited the next generation for forcing him to evolve his own game.
“Such is the demand of the sport today, you have these super young players pushing you all the time and asking you to change your game and up the ante,” Kohli said following the victory.
“It’s an exciting situation because it gives you something to improve on, something to work towards.”
“The demands of the modern game, where you need to get those extra 30 runs, meant I had to change my mindset – not my game so much – to hit the shots I hit more often and take the opposition’s best bowlers on.”