Virat Kohli delivered a masterclass performance to kick off the IPL 2026 campaign, smashing his 64th IPL half-century and powering defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a thumping six-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday (March 28).
The batting stalwart stayed unbeaten on 69 off 38 balls, helping RCB chase down a target of 202 with 26 balls to spare. Devdutt Padikkal (61 off 26) and skipper Rajat Patidar (31 off 12) also produced impactful knocks in the chase.
Kohli entered the tournament having officially retired from both Test and T20I formats, now representing India only in ODIs. However, he demonstrated no rustiness in batting.
After scripting RCB’s win, Virat Kohli attributed his exceptional form to the breaks he gets these days, allowing him to return "120%" refreshed.
“It’s good to get back out there. You mentioned T20 cricket, the last game I played was the final last year, but I think the way I batted in the one-day series quite recently really helped me to stay in that same kind of momentum. I wasn’t playing shots that I don’t usually play. So I knew as long as I have the rhythm, and I’ve put enough work physically behind the scenes with my fitness, things should come together nicely. And yeah, tonight was another chance to start strong and build on this,” Kohli said in the post-match interview.
“The kind of scheduling that we’ve had over the last 15 years and the amount of cricket I’ve played, for me, there was always a risk of getting burnt out rather than being undercooked. So these breaks help me mentally. I stay fresh, I stay excited. Whenever I come back to play, it’s 120%. I’m not coming back underprepared. In fact, the extra rest helps me mentally freshen up. And as long as you’re physically fit and mentally excited, both those things come together nicely. Then you’re able to contribute to the team’s cause, and that’s what you want to do as a player. You don’t want to just hold on to a spot; you want to keep performing and keep putting in the work for the team,” he added.
Kohli hailed Padikkal's knock as "outstanding" and a display of "sheer talent," noting the southpaw was in top form after a great domestic red-ball season.
“Outstanding knock. I mean, right from the word go, I had plans of going aggressive in the powerplay. But when I saw him play, I was like, just keep putting him back on strike and pick the odd boundary here and there. He completely took the game away from the opposition. I even told him, that shot he hit off the slower ball over mid-on for six, at that moment I said, just keep going. You’re hitting the ball amazingly well, just keep pushing and take the game away from the opposition. If we finish with 25-26 balls to spare, we’ll also benefit in terms of net run rate. His knock was tremendous. I’ve seen him at close quarters, the skill he has and now he’s applying it. This is also at the back of a great domestic red-ball season. His timing, head position, balance, absolutely world-class. I know what he can do with the bat when he’s confident, and tonight was a display of his sheer talent,” he remarked.
