Kohli Reaches New Heights in Strike Rate

Virat Kohli recorded a strike rate of 165.85 in the IPL. While not quite at the level of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, only six batters who scored 500 or more runs this season had a higher strike rate than him. A different version of Kohli has emerged over the last two IPL seasons. According to Tom Moody, the reason is simple: Kohli is enjoying his cricket. However, Varun Aaron believes a major factor behind the transformation is Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) stronger middle order.

Back in 2016, Kohli produced a record-breaking IPL season, scoring 973 runs at a strike rate of 152.03. Before the 2026 season, that remained the only time he had recorded a strike rate above 150 in an IPL campaign.

A significant part of this transformation has been his attacking intent. This season, Kohli attempted to hit a boundary off 47 percent of the deliveries he faced during the powerplay. Across the entire tournament, that figure stood at 46 percent, meaning he looked for a boundary almost every second ball he faced.