Virat Kohli becomes first batter with this IPL record: Details
What's the story
Virat Kohli, the star batsman of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has become the first player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history to score 600 or more runs in four consecutive seasons. The record was achieved during RCB's IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala on Tuesday. This is Kohli's sixth season overall with 600 runs in the tournament. Here are further details.
Current season
Kohli's blazing innings in Qualifier 1
Kohli scored a quickfire 43 off just 25 balls in the first qualifier against Gujarat Titans. The innings set the tone as RCB went to score a massive 254/5 and later won by 92 runs. Across 15 games this season, Kohli has raced to 600 runs at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 164.38, as per ESPNcricinfo. He has gone past the 50-run mark five times, including a hundred.
Record details
Six campaigns of 600-plus runs
Kohli's record-breaking achievement comes after a series of stellar performances in the IPL. He had scored 634 runs in 2013, followed by an incredible 973 runs in 2016. His other high-scoring seasons include 639 runs in 2023, a whopping 741 runs in 2024, and another impressive performance with 657 runs last season. While Kohli has enjoyed six IPL campaigns of 600 or more runs, KL Rahul (4) is the only other batter with more than three such seasons.
Information
Kohli goes past Rahul, Gayle
Previously, Chris Gayle (2011-13) and KL Rahul (2020-22) had managed to compile 600-plus runs in three back-to-back IPL seasons, but Kohli has now become the first player to achieve the feat in four straight campaigns.
Stats
Most runs in IPL history
Earlier this season, Kohli became the first player to complete 9,000 IPL runs. With his efforts against GT, Kohli has amassed 9,261 runs across 282 IPL matches, averaging 40.09, all while playing for RCB. The tally includes nine tons, the most in the tournament (50s: 67). In terms of runs, Rohit Sharma is Kohli's closest rival with 7,329 of them.