Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) former England all-rounder Liam Livingstone has revealed that director of cricket Mo Bobat and head coach Andy Flower have worked hard on Virat Kohli and encouraged him to change the way he bats over the last two years in the IPL.
Virat Kohli has completely changed his T20 style by using aggression with the bat as a weapon during the powerplay overs. After being criticized for playing a conventional anchor role for a long time, Kohli entirely changed his game plan, which led to a career-high season strike rate of 165.84 in IPL 2026.
Livingstone commended Kohli for his commitment to improving, despite being one of the best batters in the world. He clarified that Kohli's approach at the crease changed noticeably as a result of Flower and Bobat's encouragement to embrace a more aggressive mindset, especially during the powerplay overs.
"He's got better and better, hasn't he? He's an incredible player. Mo and Andy went in and changed the way they played. They were brave enough to do that. They asked him to be a bit more aggressive, hit more sixes, and keep going with that aggression in the powerplay,” Livingstone stated on The Overlap Cricket YouTube channel.
Livingstone also stated that there has been a visible change in the way Virat Kohli bats over the previous two seasons. Livingstone also talked about his time spent in the same dressing room as Kohli at RCB, characterizing the Indian superstar as a tremendously competitive player on the field but a totally different guy off it.
"You see the way he plays now in the power play, and he's way more aggressive than he used to be. Even against spin, he's playing more shots than he ever did.
He was amazing. I'd always played against Virat, and he's always a laugh. If you want to have a go at someone, he'll have a go back at you. But on the field, he's ultra-competitive. As soon as he steps over that line, he's a different person," he added.
"Away from cricket, he's a really nice guy, really chilled out. He loves his family and spending time with them. He's genuinely a lovely guy," he added.
Kohli finished the IPL 2026 as RCB’s highest run-getter with 675 runs in 16 matches, averaging 56.25 with a strike rate of 165.85.
