"First Thing I Did Upon Landing...": Shashi Tharoor Praises Virat Kohli After RCB's 1st IPL Title

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday praised batting great Virat Kohli after his team, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), won the maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title.

Mr Tharoor, who is leading an all-party Indian parliamentary delegation to the US to highlight India's policy of zero-tolerance to terrorism, said the first thing he did upon landing in Washington was to check the IPL final score.

"Very happy for Virat Kohli that he 18 laid his hands on the trophy after 18 years of service! Congratulations," Mr Tharoor wrote on X, and posted pictures of him checking the score on his mobile phone inside the plane.

First thing I did upon landing in Washington was to check the #IPLFinal score. Very happy for @imVkohli that he #18 laid his hands on the trophy after 18 years of service! Congratulations #RCB! #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/AAvTjL1DPf

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 3, 2025

Bengaluru beat Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings by six runs in the IPL final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, their first IPL title in 18 seasons.

Mr Kohli, who has been with the franchise since the inaugural 2008 edition, scored 43 runs and helped Bengaluru post 190-9. The RCB bowlers, led by player-of-the-match Krunal Pandya, restricted Punjab to 184-7.

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36-year-old Kohli, Bengaluru's leading scorer this season, has helped the team reach three previous finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016, losing all three.

BJP's Tejasvi Surya, who represents Bengaluru in the parliament and is accompanying Mr Tharoor, also posted a video, congratulating the RCB.

"Wishing RCB from Washington DC upon our touchdown," he said in the video, standing alongside Mr Tharoor and Telugu Desam Party leader Ganti Harish Madhur.

Wishing RCB from Washington DC upon our touchdown. ❤️@ShashiTharoor @HarishBalayogi pic.twitter.com/mhQWPuaPrv

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) June 3, 2025

Mr Tharoor is leading the all-party parliamentary delegation to convey India's message of zero-tolerance against terrorism and Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 after a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last month.

Besides Mr Surya and Mr Balayogi, his delegation comprises BJP's Shashank Mani Tripathi and Bhubaneswar Kalita, Shiv Sena's Milind Deora, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Sarfaraz Ahmad and India's former Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Sandhu.

They reached New York from India on May 24, travelled to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil before arriving in Washington for the last leg of their tour.