'Ee sala cup namdu'

On April 2, 2011, when Dhoni's helicopter flew into the shot gallery of Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, the crowd cheered for Sachin Tendulkar. The frenzied spectators went agog chanting Sachin’s name as the shot marked an end to the master blaster’s 22-year wait for a World Cup.

The setting was similar in Ahmedabad on Tuesday when RCB ended the trophy drought after 18 long years. Hysteric celebrations started with most of the crowds chanting Kohli’s name. Even, many RCB players ran straight to the former Indian captain to celebrate the victory. The cameras never took their focus away from Kohli and it spoke volumes of what the victory meant for the veteran Indian batsman.

Virat, with a cabinet of trophies including the ODI World Cup, the T20 World Cup, and the Champions Trophy had to wait for 18 long years to touch the IPL trophy. Despite doing well every season, it was routine for RCB to stumble at the fag-end of the tournament.

In the past, even 'mammoths' AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle lined up with fine fettle Kohli could not do the essential to win the IPL trophy. Despite facing heart-breaking defeats at the end of every season, the war cry of fans “EE SAALA CUP NAMDE” kept on reverberating in the stands of Chinnaswamy stadium.

In the preliminary round, they finished second with nine wins out of 14 matches. In the playoffs, they chased down Punjab in ten overs and defeated them. Teamwork paved the way for RCB's victory beyond individual performances. Virat, Phil Salt, captain Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Suyash Sharma all contributed to the team's victory at every stage. Of these, Krunal's performance as the man of the match in the final should be highlighted. Krunal was declared the Man of the Match in the last game taking two crucial wickets and giving away just 17 runs. Krunal also attained the special feat of becoming the man of the match in two IPL finals.

RCB’s majestic IPL title win has shrouded the dejection of Preity Zinta's Punjab Kings team. It was under the tutelage of captain Shreyas Iyer that Punjab trudged to the finals. They were just a shot away from victory but alas, it was destined to be RCB’s big day. Punjab can exit the tournament raising their heads high for their valour seen throughout the tournament. When teams that boasted players of elite quality fell apart, Punjab with a posse of underdogs reached the finals. It was a message of perseverance and sheer talent.

BCCI should also be lauded for its excellent organization, as they were able to complete the tournament despite having to stop it amid adverse circumstances, including the dastardly Pahalgam attacks.