Star batter Virat Kohli recently completed 13,000 runs in T20 cricket. Over the years, the 36-year-old has been criticised plenty of times for his strike rate in the shortest format, including right before the T20 World Cup in 2024. Nevertheless, The team management had no doubt about his capabilities and backed the cricketer, who was adjudged the Player of the Match in the final against South Africa.
Despite immense success in international cricket, Kohli has never won the IPL trophy. He has come close on a couple of occasions but Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) failed to cross the line in each of the three finals that they have played. In 2025, the Rajat Patidar-led side has started extremely well, winning three of their four matches and is currently third on the points table.
Next up, the team will host Delhi Capitals, who are still unbeaten in the tournament. Meanwhile, ahead of that, Kohli opened up about his batting principle and noted that his goal is never to overshadow anyone but to play according to the situation and carry the momentum.
“It's (batting) never about ego. It was never about trying to overshadow anyone. It's always been about understanding the game situation - and that's something I've always taken pride in. I want to play according to what the situation demands. If I was in rhythm, in the flow of the game, I naturally took the initiative. If someone else was better placed to take the lead, they would do it,” Kohli told JioHotstar.
The focus is on Kohli in the ongoing season as RCB look like one of the teams to beat this season. There’s pressure on the cricketer as well, who is playing his 18th edition of the tournament but hasn’t won the trophy. Notably, he is the highest run-getter in the IPL with 8168 runs from 256 matches with eight hundreds, the most by any batter.