Watch| Historic Moment: Anushka Embraces Virat as RCB Clinches First-Ever IPL Title

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was flooded with emotion when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at long last won their first Indian Premier League (IPL) crown after 18 long years of anticipation.

Amidst the euphoric moments, one of the most poignant moments was when Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma hugged her husband, the legendary RCB batter and contemporary cricketing icon, Virat Kohli. While nerves ran high through the ground—from players to spectators in the galleries—Kohli allowed himself to let go.

Seconds after slumping to the grass in tears at the final whistle, Kohli hurried towards Anushka, his face running with emotion. The purity of the moment, a near-volcanic intensity, reminded one of the cataclysmic power of Italy's Mount Etna.

Anushka, proud and loving, hugged her husband firmly and congratulated him on the long-sought victory.

Camera lenses snapped into action in quick succession, freezing the strong moment between the two—a moment that was going to become ingrained in the general memory of Indian pop culture.

For Kohli, the win came soon after he had brought an end to his legendary Test career. The culmination of all those years of toil and disappointment, it can be easily understood how the near-obliterating feeling of satisfaction he would have experienced.

RCB's ride for almost two decades has been only one of unflinching support from one of the most ardent fan bases of the IPL. Their belief, consistently tried, was eventually vindicated in style.

In a poetic coincidence, Anushka Sharma and the IPL both started in the same year—2008. While the first IPL season opened in summer, Anushka's first Bollywood outing was that December in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi opposite Shah Rukh Khan—whose team, Kolkata Knight Riders, entered IPL 2025 as defending champions.

This win was another jewel in Kohli’s glittering crown. Earlier this year in March, he played a pivotal role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph alongside Rohit Sharma, earning his second title in the tournament after the 2013 edition.

Just months earlier, Kohli and Rohit had also helped lead India to T20 World Cup glory in Barbados, pulling off a stunning final win against South Africa.

While Kohli has been occupied creating history on the ground, Anushka has been away from acting. Her last outing was a cameo in the 2022 film Qala, while her last complete role was in 2018's Zero.

She was scheduled to make a comeback in cinema with Chakda 'Xpress, a biopic on Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami, but the status of the film remains uncertain, with no official word on its release.