“Powerplay mein khatam”: Venkatesh Iyer reveals Virat Kohli’s IPL final message

The way Virat Kohli chased down the target in the IPL 2026 Final was not possible without a foolproof blueprint back in his mind. Venkatesh Iyer, who played the match as an opener, played a pivotal role during the run chase against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.

Weeks after the much-discussed final of IPL 2026, Venkatesh Iyer reveals what Virat Kohli told him ahead of their batting. Kohli planned to take the momentum away from the opponents at the beginning of the innings, during the powerplay.

Venkatesh Iyer’s explosive knock provided RCB with an edge over the Gujarat Titans

With Venkatesh Iyer at the top of the batting order, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) got a flying start while chasing the 156-run target. While Kohli took the innings deep, Iyer displayed a blazing cameo, scoring 32 runs from 16 balls with a strike rate of 200.00.

Venkatesh Iyer’s explosive knocks helped RCB reduce the asking rate and set the stage for the run chase. As Virat Kohli remained on the crease throughout the run chase, RCB never looked out of position despite losing multiple middle-order batters. Later, effective knocks by Tim David and Jitesh Sharma accompanied the batting maestro to win the final by 5 wickets and 12 balls to spare.

Iyer reveals what Virat Kohli told him ahead of the run chase

During a recent interaction with 2 Sloggers, Venkatesh Iyer said that ahead of the run chase, Virat Kohli had only one message for him: kill the game in the powerplay.

“Powerplay mein khatam karna hai apne ko yeh match (We need to take over the match during the powerplay),” Virat said to Iyer during the innings break.

Before walking out to chase in the IPL final, Virat had only one message for Venky in the urinal: Powerplay mein khatam karna hai apne ko yeh match.. 😭 pic.twitter.com/OUUbrYuLCU

— Kohlistic🔥 (@Kohlistic18) June 30, 2026

RCB endured almost 18 years without winning a single trophy. Still, throughout the journey, they had a loyal fanbase. Iyer said that the fans, who remain with the team during the lows and highs, deserve all the celebrations.

RCB broke their trophy jinx in 2025, and in 2026, they claimed the title again for the second straight season after the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings; Royal Challengers Bengaluru are only the third team to defend their title successfully.

“For 18 years, RCB fans have endured a lot of negativity and trolling; this is the outcome of that,” Venkatesh Iyer said.

Phil Salt’s injury opened the door for Iyer

The injury to the England international opener Phil Salt opened the gates for Venkatesh Iyer. For most of the group phase of the IPL 2026 season, the versatile batting all-rounder remained on the sidelines, warming the bench. Later, to set the strongest possible playing combination without Phil Salt, the team management put the Indian batter in the line-up, which worked in their favour amazingly.

The 31-year-old scored 209 runs in 6 innings with a batting average of 52.25 and became one of the celebrated cricketers among the RCB fans. Iyer explains that after the final, wherever he went to play, fans supported him with ‘RCB, RCB’ chants.

“I went to Patna to play the Ranji Trophy, and fans on the boundary line were chanting ‘RCB! RCB! It was the same in Delhi. The same happened in Coimbatore, where there isn’t even an Int’l cricket stadium,” he added.