Kohli made 657 runs in IPL 2025 at a stirke rate of 144.71 for RCB.
Cheteshwar Pujara, an Indian batter, believes that RCB legend Virat Kohli evolved as a batter during the IPL 2025 season and silenced his detractors about his strike rate. With a strike-rate of 144.71 and 657 runs in 15 games, Kohli had an extremely successful IPL batting season. As RCB won their first IPL championship, he struck eight fifties during the season.
Fans and commentators have criticized Kohli's strike rate in recent seasons, but Pujara believes the RCB star was able to quell the criticism with his performances. According to Pujara, Kohli is willing to pick up new skills and adjust to a new challenge.
"It's not easy, but the good part about Virat is that he is one of the fittest cricketers, and he is open to adapting to a new challenge or something different. He is always open to learning new things. People have been criticizing him in the past for not batting at a strike rate of 140-150. Now, if you look at his batting this season, he has answered that question. He has batted at a strike rate of 140-150 and above. So he has evolved as a batter," Pujara said on Star Sports.
Pujara feels that Kohli's desire to learn shows how big a player he is.
"It doesn't come naturally. You need to work on it, and even to work on it at this age, when he is 36 and has played the game for such a long time, if you are still willing to learn and make a difference to the team, that shows how big a player he is," he added.
Pujara also spoke on Virat Kohli’s emotions spilling out as RCB won their first IPL title. Kohli was observed crying as the final was coming to a close, realizing that he would finally be able to hold the IPL championship.
Pujara said it was a significant turning point in the RCB player's career and demonstrated how important it was to him.
"It's a massive moment in his career. He has achieved a lot in his career, but the one thing he couldn't achieve in his career for so many years was an IPL title. It shows how much it mattered to him because he was working hard to win this title for many years. He was looking very emotional, and the tears coming from his eyes show the importance of an IPL title for a cricketer," said Pujara.
"Virat has many personal achievements in his career and has done a lot with the Indian team as well. Only one thing was left incomplete in his cricketing career, which was the IPL title. RCB won that yesterday (Tuesday), and his dream of winning an IPL title got fulfilled,” Pujara signed off.
Virat Kohli, who retired from Test cricket, will now be in action when India plays ODI cricket.