Cricket

At the ‘best’ of times, Bengaluru’s traffic is an unmitigated disaster, compounded by slabs of asphalt around gaping potholes. This was better than the best of times; a 17-year itch had finally been scratched, Royal Challengers Bengaluru had, at long last, reached the Promised Land. Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli, along with his teammates, celebrates with the trophy after winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 final cricket match against Punjab Kings(AFP) In the immediacy of RCB wrapping their collective hands around the Indian Premier League trophy for the first time on Tuesday night, life in the one-time Garden City came to an absolute standstill. Vast stretches of some of the most iconic thoroughfares were swamped by thousands who came out to express their appreciation at their heroes’ tryst with glory. Vehicular movement was non-existent, but there was none of the usual impatience, no angry words exchanged, no instances of road rage that have become the norm in recent times. There was the blaring of horns – of course there will be – but these weren’t strident cries for right of way. There was a musical, synchronous touch to the honking; it started with ‘AarCeeBee, AarCeeBee, AarCeeBeee’ until the horns fell silent and chants of ‘Kohli, Kohli, Kohli’ ripped through what would otherwise have been a silent night air. After 17 unsuccessful tilts at ultimate redemption, Kohli was finally an IPL champion. There was a touch of ‘Happy New Year’ to the streets of Bengaluru as men and women, boys and girls, young and old, exchanged high-fives and hugs. There was delight that RCB had finally broken their IPL duck, sure, but that was secondary to the overwhelming love for Kohli. By his own admission, the former Indian captain had given his ‘prime, youth, experience’ to RCB; he had given his soul to the only franchise he has represented. The franchise responded in kind, eventually, by climbing the top of the ladder, firming up a relationship between the boy from West Delhi and the country’s IT hub that had scaled epic proportions long before Rajat Patidar, in his first season as IPL captain, did what Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Kohli himself and Faf du Plessis before him had failed to do – hoist the IPL winners’ trophy. Kohli’s flamboyance had appealed so much to the flamboyant original owner of RCB, Vijay Mallya, that the Bengaluru team had little hesitation in picking the World Cup-winning Under-19 captain as their first draft pick in 2008 after Delhi Daredevils, inexplicably, chose left-arm paceman Pradeep Sangwan ahead of their homegrown hero. That was the start of a bond that has grown magically over time; in the early years of the tournament, Kohli performed in the towering shadows of Dravid and Kumble, among others. A few years on, he carved his own identity, becoming almost bigger than the franchise itself as he became the face of the team, its identity, its character, indeed its soul. To the RCB faithful, it didn’t matter if the team didn’t come out on top. With unrelenting passion and a conviction that stemmed more from faith than reality, they rallied around Kohli and, by extension, RCB. Every failure was immediately forgiven, every fruitless season followed by a tidal wave of optimism at the start of a fresh campaign. The love was unconditional, almost. A trophy would be great, yes, but if not, never mind – we are solidly behind you. Kohli returned the love in kind, with a bushel of runs. For eight and a half years as captain, he gave it his all as he pursued champion status with unfettered hunger. He played in, and lost, three finals, one of them as skipper; as he moved into the autumn of his career, he must have wondered if he was destined to wind up without a winner’s medal around his neck. But he never lost heart, he never gave up the good fight. ‘Mission accomplished’ Kohli has made more than 9,000 runs for RCB; no one has scored more T20 runs for a single team. He defied boundaries, sometimes his own expectations. He carried the hopes of millions, and he knew it. His emotional reaction to a maiden IPL title far overshadowed any celebratory endeavour with the national team, with whom he won a 50-over World Cup, two Champions Trophy crowns and a T20 World Cup title. That’s not to say that he loves the Indian team any less; it’s just that he felt he owed RCB and its faithful legion of easily satisfied supporters their time in the sun – or is it the blazing floodlights? – and therefore the sense of Mission Accomplished was that much more pronounced and visceral. “Tonight, I will sleep like a baby,” Kohli insisted, flanked by two RCB giants – Universe Boss Chris Gale and his brother from another mother, AB de Villiers. Maybe Kohli will, but you can’t say the same of Bengaluru. Not after Terrific Tuesday.