With IPL Crown Finally on His Head, What’s Next for ‘King’ Virat Kohli?

Virat Kohli waited 18 years to wear the IPL crown. Now that he has done that, what lies in the future?

What lies in the future for Virat Kohli?

(Photo: X)

2009 runners-up. 2011 runners-up. 2016 runners-up. 2025 IPL champions!

It is not easy being Virat Kohli. After trying for 18 long years, the 36-year-old man from Delhi was finally able to hold the elusive IPL trophy. It must have been a moment of catharsis for Kohli, after enduring heartbreaks and near-misses for almost two decades.

For one, only two players have appeared in more IPL fixtures than Virat Kohli's 267 — MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. However, only one among the three has represented the same franchise throughout 18 seasons.

Against this backdrop, one can only imagine how it must feel to be the most popular cricketer of an entire generation, the light of advertisers' lives and the heartbeat of a cricket-crazy nation, yet not have an IPL trophy to show for. For 18 years, 267 IPL matches and 9 playoffs, travelling from hotel to hotel, venue to venue, dressing room to dressing room, without possessing a championship trophy to hold aloft. Not knowing how it feels to become an IPL winner, an emotion every true-blue Indian cricketer yearns for.

After being the subject of memes, quips and PJs for 18 years, Virat Kohli has finally achieved the distinction of being an IPL champion. With Kohli gradually retiring from one format after another, this felt like the ideal time to finally cross it off his bucket list.

With IPL Won, What Next for Kohli?

With Kohli having walked away from Tests and T20Is, he is left with focussing on ODIs and the IPL, in between spending time with family.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but this could actually be an even tougher challenge for Kohli. Playing all three formats often provides a rhythm and continuity that can be harder to maintain when focusing on just one.

Regardless, staying at the top level demands daily commitment, both in terms of skill and fitness. And as a batter faces less top-tier fast bowling on a regular basis, the sharpness required to handle the best in the business can gradually dull, leading to a touch of rust.

Team India is set to play three ODI series this year — against Bangladesh in August, against Australia in October and against South Africa in November-December. With all being three-match affairs, Kohli will have to be at the top of his game to remain in contention for the 2027 ODI World Cup. With a few low scores, and given the assembly line of quality Indian batters, the tide might not take long to turn against the former Indian captain.

Kohli, and the Turnaround

For the longest time, Kohli has been scoring runs in the IPL for fun. After 2011 turned out to be the breakout year for the young RCB upstart, as it was the first time he went past 500 runs in a season, Virat's blade has been producing runs consistently.

Even through some of his lowest years in 2019, 2020 and 2021, Kohli got past 400 runs, a benchmark considered above par for many. Over the last three IPL seasons, the passionate batter has been delivering without fail. If anything, his 657 runs, with eight half-centuries, at a strike rate of 144 this year is a notch lower than his 741 runs at a strike rate of 154 in IPL 2024.

Keeping the trophy count aside, Kohli has one of the most enviable CVs in IPL history. He holds the record for the most runs (8661) and most fours (771) across the IPL. He is the batter with the most centuries (eight) and half-centuries (63) in the IPL. His 973 runs in IPL 2016, the most by any batter in a single season, continue to be a batting benchmark for the league.

RCB’s King, but Without a Crown

Despite all of this, it is hard to walk around as a King without a crown. Centuries, league stage wins, and even an odd blinder of a knock are all applauded, but what's eventually remembered and respected is the number of trophies – the metaphorical crown. Mumbai Indians' King Rohit Sharma has six, Chennai Super Kings' King MS Dhoni has five; but before 3 June 2025, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's King had no crowning glory.

Now, think of Virat Kohli's emotions as RCB were inching towards victory against Punjab Kings in the last over of the final.

This win is as much for the fans as it is for the team. It's been 18 long years. I've given this team my youth, my pride, and my experience. And I've tried to win this every season that I come. And I've given everything I have. And to finally have this moment come, it's an unbelievable feeling. It means so much to me. I've just, as I said, given each and every ounce of my energy to this team. And finally having won the IPL, it's an amazing feeling.

Virat Kohli

18 Years Later, It’s Payback Time for Kohli

Contrast Kohli's situation with that of teammate Krunal Pandya. As Josh Hazlewood started the final over with a dot ball, RCB's victory was almost nailed in. At one end of the spectrum, you saw Krunal Pandya pumping his fists and stamping his authority. After all, this was going to be his fourth IPL title. On the other end, Virat Kohli did not know what to do with his arms and legs as he patrolled the mid-wicket boundary, walking in circles after every delivery, till the moment of triumph finally arrived.

Sinking to his knees and clutching his face, Kohli's image was strikingly similar to that of Indian captain Rohit Sharma after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup. The weight of expectations, years of denial and multiple heartbreaks later, victory, at long last, was Virat's to cherish. As Kohli suddenly got up with a jolt and ran to his teammates to celebrate, the monkey of never being able to win an IPL title had got off his back and climbed a tall tree.

What Does the Future Hold for Kohli?

The IPL trophy may finally be in the bag, but for the legendary batter, bigger ambitions still lie ahead. While Kohli already owns an ODI World Cup medal from India’s triumph in Mumbai in 2011, the 2027 edition will carry a profoundly different meaning for him. Back then, he was the rising star, proud and overjoyed, but perhaps too young to fully grasp why icons like Tendulkar, Zaheer, Yuvraj, and Harbhajan were moved to tears.

Now, having poured an entire career into the pursuit of excellence, Kohli would feel the weight of such a moment far more deeply. It’s that emotional depth, and unfinished business, that has convinced the maestro to carry on.

All one can do is keep fingers crossed for Kohli, and for Rohit Sharma as well, as few in the game deserve a grander finish than these two, given the decades of service they've rendered to Indian cricket. But with over two years still to go before the next showpiece event, and both now featuring in just one international format, the road ahead might prove far more challenging than it currently seems.