Kohli did everything imaginable at that moment. He shared the moment with his long-time friend AB de Villiers, even The Universe Boss, Chris Gayle. He went up to his partner Anushka Sharma and cried like a baby in her arms. He jumped and screamed, straight into the laps of Ravi Shastri. Oh boy! The long string of visuals Kohli gave could last an eternity. But while Kohli touched upon how much this victory meant to him, the former captain addressed a topic that is inevitable for a sportsman. Last year, Kohli announced his retirement from T20 International, and just last year, bid farewell to Test cricket. RCB fans worried they might see another post from Kohli on his Instagram handle, fearing the worst. Well, thankfully, that did not happen, but Kohli ensured his fans knew what the future held for him.

“Well, I have an opportunity to play this game for not many years. So there is an end date to our career, as you know. And by the time that I hang up my boots, I want to sit at home and say I gave it everything I had. So I look for ways to improve,” Kohli said after the match.

Clearly, he isn’t going away anytime soon, which is icing on the cake for RCB and uts fans.

What next for Virat Kohli?

Kohli has achieved pretty much everything that there is for a professional cricketer to achieve. He is India’s greatest Test captain, with 40 wins, has won all three prestigious ICC trophies – ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and of course, now an IPL winner too. And he is just 36. Perhaps the only big silverware his trophy cabinet lacks is the World Test Championship title. And that too, Kohli gave it his all in two finals.

For RCB itself, Kohli has been more than just a superstar player. He is the face of the franchise, its identity. Several legends – Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, de Villiers, Gayle, Dale Steyn – have come and gone, but Kohli has remained the only constant. Even outside the RCB, as his once-India teammates and IPL contemporaries Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni continue to fade away in form. Kohli is still able to pile a mountain of runs, and with ease. Five times now has he amassed over 600 runs in a single season of the IPL. And the good thing. He is showing no signs of slowing down.

When the IPL returns next year, Kohli will be the centre of attraction all the more now that he is an IPL winner, has retired from Tests and will be seen a lot less on the cricket ground. Rest assured, there will be no lack of hunger for RCB and IPL’s one and only constant.