Virat Kohli An emotional speech in the dressing room after the sensational last-ball win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Mumbai Indians In IPL 2026, a victory that pushed the defending champions to the top of the points table and left them one win away from a place in the playoffs. RCB held their nerve in a dramatic chase of 167 at the Shaheed Vir Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, winning by two wickets on the final delivery after a rollercoaster contest. The chase started disastrously for Bengaluru. Kohli Deepak Chahar was dismissed for a golden duck in the opening over before Devdutt Padikal and Rajat Patidar also departed cheaply. With RCB slowly reeling at 47/3, Krunal Pandya Battling through severe pains, he made a brave 73, pushing the innings forward and dragging the chase deep. Finally, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Hit a crucial six in the last over before Rasukh Salam Dar pulled back for the winning runs off the last ball. Kohli’s dynamic leap after the win indicates how much the result meant for RCB. Later in the dressing room, the former captain praised the team’s resilience and fighting spirit. “Hey guys, I’m going to keep it short. I’m going to wrap it up tonight. Thanks, Andy (Flower), for giving me a chance to do something in the game today,” Kohli began. “But guys, look, if you want to win multi-team competitions, we need a team. We need to play like this. We need to scrap for wins. We need to fight hard.” Kohli singled out Bhuvneshwar for special praise after the veteran fast bowler’s performances with both bat and ball. Earlier in the evening, Bhuvneshwar tore apart Mumbai’s top order, dismissing Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav before finishing with impressive figures of 4/23. “We know the feelings of the group. We’re just talking about the game, how we started again. Bhavi, brilliant in the power play. Your process, your skills, you are absolutely world class. I think it was the sixth three-wicket haul of the season – 11 games, which is crazy,” Kohli said. Bhuvneshwar, who now tops the IPL 2026 wickets chart with 21 wickets, credited his strong season to confidence and performance. “The good thing is that whatever I’m doing or trying to do, it’s happening. And I think it’s all about confidence,” Bhuvneshwar said. “When you start the IPL, you have a couple of good matches, then you get confidence. And I think, yeah, I don’t want to change it, but whatever I’m trying to do, it’s happening. My job is to be spot-on, get wickets and of course, get help from the fielders to get those important chances.” So I mean work has to be done. Kohli also praised the contribution of the rest of the bowling attack, including Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma and Rasukh Salam Dar. “Chef (Romario Shepherd), the way you bowled tonight was top notch, and you showed us what you can do when you feel confident with the ball in hand and you can hit your areas. You’ve got the skills, and we all support you to realize your potential every time. Well done,” Kohli said. “KP (Kronal), under pressure or in any kind of situation, can always support you. Again, brilliant with the ball. Suyash also did his job. Rashikh was also very good.” The RCB batsman also acknowledged the team’s batting struggles before praising the middle-order fightback led by Krunal. Tim David. “With the bat, we didn’t start the best. We know that. But like the last game, we have two games where we didn’t start the best, but the last game, Rajat stepped up with the help of KP. TD (Tim David) made an impact in the last game.” “This game again, he got stuck in and we got an important partnership with KP. That partnership was important for us to get the score down. Very good,” Kohli added.
