But on the day that mattered, David Warner outshone Kohli with his inspirational leadership as the Sunrisers Hyderabad won their maiden IPL title beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight runs in Sunday's final at the Chinnaswamy.
For captain Warner, it was the team that mattered the most and he placed team effort above individual contributions as the guiding force behind the Sunrisers' victory. "It's overwhelming to win the trophy. I'm overwhelmed to lead this side and with this triumph.
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"I was happy that I led by example with the runs. But overall, it was a team effort. But it's really hard to have that perfect game and gel as a side.
"It's not about me... It about the team... It takes a team to win a tournament," Warner had said.
After the resounding IPL final victory, twitter was full of praise for David Warner and his men, who fought against all odds to win the tournament.
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But as the wishes poured in, Pakistani middle order batsman Umar Akmal became the butt of all jokes as he wished winning team with the hashtag #psl2016final.
Akmal tweeted, "Congratulations to @davidwarner31 n team well deserving win #psl2016final"
After getting trolled for the gaffe, Akmal admitted that it was a mistake, and tweeted the same message again with the correct hashtag.
"Congratulations to @davidwarner31 n team well deserving win #ipl2016final." he tweeted.