SAJI CHACKO
ROYAL Challengers Bangalore’s agonising 18- year wait for the IPL crown ended on June 3 when they edged past Punjab Kings by 6 runs to lift the glittering trophy, in a pulsating final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
It was in the fitness of things that the win was spearheaded by Virat Kohli who – with a top score of 43 – finally got to lay his hands on the trophy that had been missing from his cabinet all these years. Interestingly, it was under the maiden captaincy of Rajat Patidar that the RCB achieved the glorious feat that top guns like Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid had failed to do.
Opting to bowl first, Punjab Kings restricted RCB to 190, an attainable score by all means. To defend it, RCB bowlers had to be at their very best, and that’s what they were. After regular loss of wickets, Punjab were left six runs behind the RCB in the chase for becoming the firsttime IPL winner.
