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NEW DELHI: The celebrations were in full swing after Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinched their second consecutive Indian Premier League title, defeating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. RCB became only the third franchise after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to successfully defend their IPL crown. The Rajat Patidar-led side first restricted Gujarat Titans to 155/8 before chasing down the target with five wickets in hand and two overs to spare.As RCB players and support staff celebrated another historic triumph, Virat Kohli stole the spotlight with wife Anushka Sharma. The star couple was seen dancing on the field moments after the title-winning victory, soaking in the celebrations with teammates and family members. For someone who has carried the weight of expectations season after season, it was a moment of pure joy. Kohli was also seen wearing a special T-shirt with the message, “One felt nice, we did it twice”, printed on the back – a fitting tribute to RCB’s successful title defence.RCB shared a video of Kohli and Anushka dancing and enjoying the title-winning moment. The former captain was also seen grooving with batting coach Dinesh Karthik as the festivities continued late into the night.Kohli played a pivotal role in the final, remaining unbeaten on 75 after RCB’s bowlers laid the foundation for the five-wicket victory.“We’ve had to wait for so long and then just to have a group of guys where you feel like you’re stepping onto the ground, you don’t need to be the one to step up every time,” Kohli told host broadcaster.“These guys are behind you (and) around you, who can win games of cricket for you. We have so many Man of the Match awards spread throughout the group as well.”“You look at world-class bowling of Hoff (Josh Hazlewood), Bhuv (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), Duff (Jacob Duffy), and Krunal Pandya – you can bank on him as good as ever – Rasikh (Salam) Dar was brilliant this season,” Kohli said.Kohli said the final this year felt a lot different than last year.“I said to a few of the boys that it doesn’t feel like the same pressure as last year, we knew what kind of ability we have in the group,” he said.“We topped the table, there’s a reason why we got here first and we just said one thing, ’if we stick to our cricket, if we execute our plans, we are the best team in the competition’ and there’s a reason why we’ve done well so far.”“In the group stage, we ended up topping the league stage and just the skill sets (that) we have, the maturity, the composure of the guys just shown through again tonight and it was a clinical performance brought throughout the tournament,” Kohli said.
