First three years were amazing in RCB, recalls Kohli

The only player in the Indian Premier League’s history to have played for the same team for 14 years in a row is Virat Kohli. He and MS Dhoni have a friendship that can only be compared to MS Dhoni and CSK. Kohli has been retained by the franchise despite his decision to step down as captain last year. Kohli has been chastised for not being able to win a trophy on numerous occasions, but it hasn’t prevented him from his unrelenting commitment to the Bangalore-based squad. The Indian captain expressed his gratitude for the franchise’s support in the first episode of the RCB podcast.

“RCB’s loyalty, like how I live my life, is far bigger than five individuals telling you that XYZ has finally won the IPL. You may feel wonderful for five minutes, but by the sixth minute, you may be upset about something else in your life. The most remarkable thing about this brand is how much it has given to me in the first three years and how much it has believed in me. There were a lot of teams that were given the chance. They didn’t believe in me and didn’t support me. I recall Ray Jennings and Siddharth Mallya approaching me while we were playing in the Champions League in South Africa, telling me that they wanted to keep only me and form a new squad around me.”

In the last 14 years, Royal Challengers Bangalore has reached three finals, and they came agonizingly close to lifting the trophy in 2016. Despite getting off to a strong start and putting Sunrisers Hyderabad on the back foot, they suffered the most in the last over, according to Kohli.