IPL 2025: Virat Kohli teaches legendary 'Ee Saala Cup Namdu' chant to Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers

Published - 04 Jun 2025, 09:23 IST | Updated - 04 Jun 2025, 09:29 IST

In a truly heartwarming moment for Royal Challengers Bengaluru's supporters, Virat Kohli was captured in teaching the iconic Ee Saala Cup Namdu (this year, the cup is ours) phrase to former RCB cricketing greats, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers after RCB registered a thrilling six-run win against Punjab Kings in the final of the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League.

Kohli made Gayle and de Villiers repeat the slogan on live broadcast, when the victory celebrations were going on at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad well past midnight. The three, who spent several years with the franchise through thick and thin, repeated the legendary line together on air to create a wonderful moment for the audience at the venue, as well as those watching it on live television.

Before this special moment, Kohli revealed his raw emotions and what it meant for him to win the title after so many seasons gone in unsuccessful pursuits of the coveted silverware, with Gayle and de Villiers being the only constants alongside him.

“For me, why it is so special that I get to share it with these two (Gayle and de Villiers) is because I’ve shared my prime years with them and I know how much we tried to win this. We had that explosiveness in our team, but we could never cross the line and all of us have that hurt because we gave our prime years to this franchise and we really, really — from the bottom of our hearts — wanted to win that title for RCB. I promise you, this feels 10 times more special just because of the fact that these two are standing next to us,” an emotional Kohli shared with Star Sports in a post-match interview.

Kohli, who ended IPL 2025 with 657 runs in 15 innings, acknowledged that the title belonged just as much to Gayle and de Villiers as it did to him due to the connection they had nurtured over the years with Bengaluru and RCB's local support in the Garden City.

“The title is honestly as much theirs as it’s mine because it’s the connection you see when they come to Bengaluru. It’s not just me. When they come (to the city), you see how people love them, and they go absolutely berserk because they know, and they appreciate that they’ve given their heart and soul for this team till the time they played here, and they deserve it as much as I do I know people are emotional, and they can tend to get carried away, but these two guys have given it everything as well so it’s equally theirs too,” added Kohli.

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Gayle and de Villiers represented RCB for seven (2011 to 2017) and 11 seasons (2011 to 2021), respectively. Both players reached remarkable heights and etched their names into the franchise’s chronicles.