Virat Kohli’s 18-year wait for an IPL trophy ended on Tuesday, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings in the final of IPL 2025. Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag compared the 18-year wait for Kohli’s IPL title to Sachin Tendulkar’s wait for the World Cup.
Kohli is the only player in IPL history to represent a single franchise since the inaugural IPL season. Kohli was the highest scorer for his franchise once again this season and also the top scorer in the IPL 2025 final for his team.
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Virender Sehwag had shared the dressing room with Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag cited an interesting parallel with Kohli and Tendulkar, as Tendulkar waited for years for an ODI World Cup trophy, even longer compared to Kohli’s 18-year wait, but Tendulkar never lost hope in his career.
“His (Kohli) wait to win the trophy for only 12 years. Sachin Tendulkar waited from 1989 till 2011. So, Kohli's wait for lesser, and still even Sachin never lost hope. He had made up his mind, he would only bow out with a World Cup trophy in his hand,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
Tendulkar waited for 22 years for his first ODI World Cup, as Tendulkar played the first World Cup in 1989, but he won the first World Cup in 2011. Tendulkar's wait for the World Cup glory is much longer compared to Kohli’s wait for the IPL trophy.
'Virat Kohli can retire without regret' - Virender Sehwag
After winning the IPL trophy, Virat Kohli completed his trophy cabinet. The IPL title was the only trophy that was missing from Kohli’s cabinet since 2008. Kohli also hadn’t T20 World Cup trophy before 2024, but in the T20 World Cup 2024, Kohli etched his name on the trophy as well.
Sehwag claimed that now Kohli can retire from IPL whenever he wants to, as his quest for the IPL trophy with RCB ended after 18 years.
“It's the same for Virat Kohli. Now, he can be relieved. He can happily stop playing IPL whenever he wants to make that decision. A player plays to win the trophy. Money comes and goes, but winning trophies isn't easy. And even as Kohli's wait ended, he has still made a very strong contribution in their campaign,” Sehwag added.
Virat Kohli’s campaign
The chase master ended the IPL 2025 season on a solid note as he scored 657 runs in 15 matches. He averaged 54.75 in this season with a dashing strike-rate of 144.71 and scored eight half-centuries as well in IPL 2025.
Kohli was also the third-highest run-scorer in this season and also became the first player to score 600+ runs in five IPL seasons.
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