Virat Kohli sets new IPL record among Indians: Details here
What's the story
Virat Kohli, the batting talisman of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has set a new record by becoming the Indian with the most Player of the Match (POTM) awards in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. He now tops the list with 22 such honors. The achievement came after his stellar performance in the IPL 2026 final against Gujarat Titans on Sunday. Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 runs off just 42 balls, hitting nine fours and three sixes at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
Record holder
Kohli only trails de Villiers on this list
With his latest POTM award, Kohli has overtaken former India and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, who has 21 POTM awards. MS Dhoni is third on the list with 18 POTM awards from his 278 IPL matches for two teams (Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant). In the overall IPL history, only AB de Villiers is ahead of Kohli with a total of 25 POTM awards. The latter shares the second spot with Chris Gayle.
Feats
Kohli reaches these landmarks
Kohli raced to his 68th half-century, and this was his fastest ever in the IPL, having taken just 25 balls. His previous IPL half-century was off 26 balls (vs RR, Bengaluru, 2018 and vs DC, Delhi, 2018). According to Cricbuzz, Kohli also recorded the joint second-fastest half-century in an IPL final, with Rohit Sharma (vs CSK, 2015) and Chris Gayle (vs SRH, 2016).
Stats
Here are his overall stats
Earlier this season, Kohli became the first player to complete 9,000 IPL runs. The 37-year-old now has 9,336 runs under his belt across 283 IPL matches, averaging 40.41. The tally includes nine tons, the most in the tournament (50s: 68). Across 16 games in IPL 2026, Kohli scored 675 runs at an average of 56.25 and a strike rate of 165.84. He went past the 50-run mark six times, including a hundred.