Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won their first IPL title as they defeated Punjab Kings in the grand finale on June 3 and Virat Kohli was filled with emotions. Having secured a tight six-run win, Kohli was on the lookout for the friend and exRCB teammate AB de Villiers as the former wanted to share an emotional hug with the South African player, who retires as one of the most iconic player in the franchise.
As the players and match officials rushed the boundary lines following the victory, de Villiers was difficult to spot for Kohli, who was looking for his friend who was present at the stadium for the momentous occasion. As soon as Kohli saw the former wicketkeeper-batter, he rushed over to give him a heartfelt embrace.

Check out the viral video of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers here:
Kohli searched for Abd ..they ran together and hugged like kids #RCBvsPBKS #CongratulationsRCB #Rcb #RCBvsPBKS #ViratKohli #ABdeVilliers #IPL2025 #IPLFinals pic.twitter.com/Ztpt3IjLtm
— Newsbooks (@Newsbooks191172) June 3, 2025

All of the teammates surrounded Virat Kohli, who was crying as the victory drew closer, as they understood the significance of the moment for both the team and himself. The team has been associated with Kohli for 18 seasons since the start of the primary match. The Ee Saala Cup Namde (This year, the cup will be ours) shouts, which the fans had been chanting for years, eventually turned to Ee Saala Cup Namdu (This year, we have the cup), resulting in a moment of delight and celebration within the fan community.

As always when Kohli bats, he was excellent with the bat, scoring a mighty 657 runs from 15 games at 54.75, the runs which turned out to be very crucial in the road of RCB to the finale. Not only did he end up being the highest run scorer for RCB in the final but his knock of 43 off 35 balls also set the tone for the RCB side in the first innings when they ended up scoring 190 by losing 9 wickets.