Will RCB lift IPL 2024 trophy? 3 times when Kohli's team came very close

"I will try my very best with my abilities, and my experience to be able to do that for the fans and the franchise," Kohli said at an Unbox event of the RCB

Virat Kohli, at the Unbox event hosted by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru RCB) on Tuesday, said it is a dream of his 'to know what it feels like to win an Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy".

RCB will take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, March 22. For starters, the men can take inspiration from their women counterparts who won the recently concluded Women's Premier League (WPL) by beating Delhi Capitals (DC).

Will RCB lift the IPL 2024 Trophy?

The chances of RCB winning the title on paper are not very bright. Apart from Virat, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, there are not many who on paper can claim to win the trophy single-handedly. 

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But when we look at teams that have won the IPL, it has not always been about star-studded playing 11s, be it Rajasthan Royals of 2008, Chennai Super Kings of 2010 or Gujarat Titans of 2022.

"I will try my very best with my abilities, and my experience to be able to do that for the fans and the franchise," Kohli said. And it might be the experience of the trio along with Dinesh Karthik that might see them through. 

Whether or not they get over the line this year, is a question that can only answered by time, but on three occasions in the past, they failed to clear the final hurdle. We head into the vaults to list out those heartbreaking moments.  

Three times when Kohli's team came very close

2009 IPL Final RCB vs DC

There used to be another DC before the Delhi Capitals and it was called the Deccan Chargers. The ownership of the team was changed from the Deccan Chronicle and others to the Sun Group and others and the team was thus renamed Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012. 

Now, going back to the story of the first final for RCB. They finished seventh among eight teams in the inaugural edition of the IPL  in 2008. In 2009, the roles were completely reversed as the two last-placed teams from the last season faced each other in the final. 

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A brilliant spell from Anil Kumble where he took 4/16 in his four overs meant that the Chargers could only post 143/6 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat first. It was a fairly easy target for the Bangalore side. 

However, they came under a lot of pressure after being just 1/36 in the first six overs. They lost wickets at regular intervals and Kohli, who came to bat at number five, could score only seven runs as RCB lost the match by six runs, finishing at 137/6 in their 20 overs. 

2011 IPL Final RCB vs CSK

Two years later, RCB entered their second final with Daniel Vettori as captain. They were up against defending champions Chennai Super Kings. At the MA Chidambaram Stadium, CSK won the toss and batted first. They posted a mammoth 205/5. Murali Vijay scored 95. 

Chasing the target, Chris Gayle, the biggest hope of the team was out for a duck and Kohli scored 32-ball 35. RCB lost the match by a huge margin of 58 runs eventually. 

2016 IPL Final RCB vs SRH

It took four more years for the RCB to reach their third final in the IPL. This time around, they played yet another Hyderabad team. SRH were playing their first-ever final and winning the toss, they decided to bat first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

David Warner, Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan and Ben Cutting contributed crucial runs and Hyderabad posted 208/7. Chasing 209, RCB started on a strong footing as they made 114 without loss in only 10.2 overs. 

However, once the opening partnership between Gayle and Kohli was broken, things fell apart and the red and gold brigade could only reach up to 200/7. Losing the match by eight runs.