Ee Sala Cup Namde! Will Virat Kohli's Jersey No. 18 end RCB's 18th IPL season trophy drought?

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 ended on a high note for Team India, who defeated New Zealand in the final to lift the title for the third time, earning the coveted white jersey. Virat Kohli played a key role in India's triumph, scoring a match-winning century against Pakistan and a crucial 84 against Australia in the semi-final.

Although he wasn't impactful in the final, the 'King' seems to have regained his rhythm and currently holds the 5th spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings. Now, all eyes will be on Kohli as he swaps the blue jersey for the red and black of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Will IPL 2025 be lucky for Virat Kohli?

Kohli was retained by RCB for ?21 crore ahead of the mega-auction. Notably, this IPL season is the 18th ¡ª matching his iconic jersey number, 18. Adding to the coincidence, Kohli also marked 18 years with RCB on March 11.

The franchise shared a heartfelt tribute, posting a photo of Kohli with the caption: "18 Seasons. 1 Team. 1 Constant King ¡ª our Number 18! On this day in 2008, we signed a young, talented boy named Virat Kohli in the inaugural #IPLAuction during the U-19 Player Draft. 18 years later, he¡¯s now the King of the game! What a journey this has been! Thank you for everything, Virat!"

1??8?? ???????, 1?? ????, 1?? ???????? ????, ??? ?????? 1??8??! ????¡á#OnThisDay in 2008, we signed a young, talented boy named Virat Kohli in the inaugural #IPLAuction during the U-19 Player Draft! ????

18 years later, he¡¯s now the King of this¡­ pic.twitter.com/F3ResdoIg5

¡ª Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 11, 2025

Star Sports' tribute to King Kohli

Building the hype, Star Sports released an ad celebrating Kohli¡¯s incredible journey, writing: "Bengaluru's jersey number 18 is entering his 18th year as a Royal Challenger! As the 18th IPL season approaches, the signs couldn¡¯t be clearer! Ee Sala Cup Namde for the King? Yeh #TATAIPL hai, yahan sab possible hai! #18WinPossible"

Virat Kohli: One century away from history

The batter is on the brink of history and is just one century away from becoming the first Indian batsman to score 10 T20 centuries. He currently has 9 tons ¡ª 8 in the IPL and 1 in T20Is (against Afghanistan) ¡ª holding the record for the most T20 hundreds by an Indian player.

On the global stage, Chris Gayle tops the list with 22 T20 centuries, followed by Babar Azam with 11. Kohli sits third, just one century shy of reaching double digits.

RCB's IPL 2025 campaign

The team from Bengaluru will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 23. KKR secured their third title by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 final. RCB's first home game is set for April 2 against Gujarat Titans (GT).

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