'Stars have answered Kohli's faith': Anand Mahindra, Shashi Tharoor, Harry Kane hail star batter after RCB win IPL 2025

Virat Kohli broke down in tears even before Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had won the Indian Premier League (IPL) final on Sunday. Once he realised the 18-year wait was coming to an end at the Narendra Modi Stadium against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday , Kohli was not able to control his emotions.

The whole of RCB played like champions to win the IPL 2025. They have had nine different players of the match winners, with Krunal Pandya emerging as the main architect in the final, but no one probably deserved the IPL trophy as much as Kohli.

Also Read | PBKS' strength turns into weakness as RCB brutally expose their batting in IPL final

The former skipper, Kohli, has been with RCB since 2008. He is the only player to compete for just one team in IPL history and the agonising wait for a maiden trophy finally ended for him on 3 June 2025.

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The star batter, Kohli, was hailed by renewed personalities from different fields as RCB won the IPL 2025.

Mahindra, Tharoor, Kane hail Kohli after RCB win IPL 2025

Industrialist Anand Mahindra wrote a beautiful message in which he praised Kohli for his loyalty towards RCB and said that such determination often leads to “carving legacies”.

“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” – Tagore

For 18 years, Virat Kohli gave his heart to a team that had never touched the trophy.

Waiting for the light of that dawn.

And now, at last, the stars have answered his faith.

Loyalty… pic.twitter.com/80B4U1BDLs

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 3, 2025

Indian politician and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was travelling to the US, congratulated Kohli immediately after landing in Washington.

“First thing I did upon landing in Washington was to check the #IPLFinal score. Very happy for @imVkohli that he #18 laid his hands on the trophy after 18 years of service! Congratulations,” he wrote on X.

First thing I did upon landing in Washington was to check the #IPLFinal score. Very happy for @imVkohli that he #18 laid his hands on the trophy after 18 years of service! Congratulations #RCB! #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/AAvTjL1DPf

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 3, 2025

England football team captain Harry Kane, who won the Bundesliga this season with Bayern Munich, hailed Kohli’s success as “Unreal achievement.”

“One from the archives to say a massive congrats to Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on a first IPL title! Unreal achievement,” Kane wrote on Instagram.

🗣 My heart is for Bangalore, my soul is for Bangalore...this is the team I will play for until the last day that I play the IPL.

Watch #ViratKohli pour his heart out after #RCB win historic #IPL2025 final📹 pic.twitter.com/UWFMYtHybi

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) June 3, 2025

Kohli’s Team India teammate Mohammed Shami labelled Kohli as the “heart and soul” of RCB, while former cricketer Harbhajan Singh said that the IPL trophy is “very important” for the batter.

Big congratulations to @RCBTweets
What a moment for the fans and the team.@imVkohli – the heart and soul of RCB.
Hats off to the champions... 🏆#rcb #iplfinal #viratkohli pic.twitter.com/oE5Y2x5g5t

— 𝕸𝖔𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖎 (@MdShami11) June 3, 2025

“I’ve never seen him crying. And today, I saw him crying, so, I also felt a little sad to see him like this. But what it meant is that Virat has been working hard for so many years,” Harbhajan told PTI. “He was able to do it, this was a very, very important one for him. And it means really big for him. God heard his prayers, they played really well. They played like champions.”