Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower praised Virat Kohli as the 'heartbeat' of the team's dressing room following their successful defence of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 title.
RCB secured their second consecutive IPL trophy by defeating Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat on Sunday.
RCB became only the third franchise after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) to retain the IPL crown. Led by Rajat Patidar, RCB restricted GT to 155 for 8 before chasing the target with five wickets in hand and two overs remaining.
In a video shared on the official RCB X handle, Flower singled out Kohli for special commendation, describing him as the “heartbeat” of the dressing room. He highlighted Kohli’s persistent courage, commitment, and readiness to confront top-tier opposition, emphasising that his example provides exemplary role modelling for the entire squad.
Flower stated, “Virat, I know you get a lot of attention and quite rightly. But I don’t want to downplay that because you are a heartbeat in this dressing room. And the courage that you continually show to go out there and put yourself on the line and take on high-quality opposition is a bloody great role modelling for all of us.”
Flower also praised the team’s bravery and character throughout the season, particularly during the IPL 2026 playoffs. He noted that while success at the highest levels demands skill and cricketing intelligence, it is heart and bravery that truly distinguish champions. “When I think of our season, and I particularly think of the last couple of games in the playoffs, what really stands out for me is the bravery of you guys in the middle. There’s been countless examples of it. But when you’re playing at the top level, and that’s Test cricket or World Cups or IPL, you need to be obviously highly skilful. You need to have cricket intelligence, but you really need to have heart. And we’ve seen that in abundance this year,” Flower said.
In the IPL 2026 final, Gujarat Titans batted first and posted 155 for 8 in 20 overs, with Washington Sundar scoring an unbeaten 50 from 37 balls, including five fours, and Nishant Sindhu contributing 20 runs off 18 balls with three fours. Rasikh Dar Salam (3/27), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/29), and Josh Hazlewood (2/37) shared the wickets.
RCB began their chase strongly with a 62-run partnership between Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 32 off 16 balls with four boundaries and two sixes, and Virat Kohli. Although GT rallied to reduce RCB to 132 for 5, Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten 75 from 42 balls, including nine fours and three sixes, guiding RCB to victory with two overs remaining.
This triumph marks RCB’s second IPL title and the franchise’s fourth Indian cricket trophy overall, including two Women’s Premier League (WPL) championships.