Narine has dismissed Kohli 4 times in IPL: Key stats
What's the story
The 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) is just around the corner, starting March 28. As the tournament approaches, fans are looking forward to some exciting player rivalries. One such battle will be between Kolkata Knight Riders's Sunil Narine and Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli. Their on-field encounters have often determined the fate of several RCB-KKR matches. On this note, let's decode their rivalry.
Rivalry stats
Kohli's struggles against Narine
Narine has dismissed Rahane Kohli four times across 17 IPL innings, according to ESPNcricinfo. Despite scoring a total of 136 runs against him, Kohli's strike rate in these encounters is a modest 105.42. The talismanic batter averages 34 in this battle. He has hit Narine for 10 fours and two sixes. It must be noted that no spinner has trapped Kohli as many or more times in IPL.
Narine's feat
Kohli belongs to this unwanted list of batters
Notably, Kohli is among the seven batters to have fallen to Narine four times in IPL. This unwanted list of batters also features Kohli's former RCB teammate and legend AB de Villiers. Shane Watson (5 times) and Rohit Sharma (8 times) are the only batters to have been trapped by Narine on more instances. Meanwhile, Narine and Kohli have also met four times in T20Is. Though the latter was not dismissed even once, his strike rate was a paltry 89.74.
Careers
Here are their overall stats
Kohli is the all-time leading run-scorer in IPL history. The former RCB captain has amassed a total of 8,661 runs across 267 matches (SR: 132.85). Kohli averages 39.54 with eight centuries and 63 fifties to his name. Meanwhile, Narine is the third-highest wicket-taker in IPL history with 192 wickets across 189 games at an impressive economy rate of 6.7 (Average: 25.63). No other bowler with at least 100 IPL scalps has a sub-seven economy rate.