IPL 2026: Virat Kohli's dominance against Kagiso Rabada scripts history
What's the story
Virat Kohli has set a new record by scoring the most runs against a single bowler in an Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The batting superstar achieved this feat during the 2026 edition of the tournament, where he scored 88 runs off South African pacer Kagiso Rabada's bowling. In total, Kohli played four matches against Gujarat Titans and gave a hard time to Rabada.
Match details
Kohli's numbers against Rabada in IPL 2026
As per ESPNcricinfo, Kohli faced Rabada in four matches this season, scoring a total of 88 runs. This also includes one dismissal. The RCB talisman hit a total of 18 boundaries off the 37 balls against the Proteas star, with 14 fours and four sixes. Kohli bettered Ishan Kishan's tally as the latter smashed Jofra Archer for 74 runs across three meetings this season.
Final match
Kohli powers RCB to their 3rd title, wins MoM award
In the IPL 2026 final, Kohli opened the innings for RCB and scored an unbeaten 75 runs off 42 balls. He hit nine fours and three sixes to help his team chase down a target of 156 runs in just 18 overs. For his stellar performance, Kohli was awarded the Player of the Match award, marking his 22nd such award in IPL history. No Indian player has more Player of the Match awards than him.
Stats
675 runs in IPL 2025
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 144.71. He went past the 50-run mark six times, including a hundred.
Purple Cap
Purple Cap for Rabada
Though Rabada had a hard time against Kohli, he won the Purple Cap, having ended as the tournament's top wicket-taker with 29 wickets in 17 matches. While the speedster averaged 21.58, his economy rate of 9.68 was on the higher side. The speedster scalped 20 wickets in the powerplay overs (1-6). No bowler has taken more wickets in this phase of an IPL season.