Sipu Jha
NEW DELHI: Two years after retiring from international T20 cricket, Virat Kohli continues to prove he’s far from “finished” in the shortest format of the game. In the IPL 2026 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, he smashed an unbeaten 69 off 38 balls for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, leading his team to a dominant win.
His recent form has been outstanding, with consistently high scores in white-ball cricket, leaving critics with little to say.
Kaif’s post sparks debate
After the match, former cricketer Mohammad Kaif shared a post defending Kohli and reminding fans of his strong performances. Expressing his view on X, he wrote, “Imagine, after two ducks in Australia, they said Virat Kohli was over. His last 10 scores in white-ball cricket are: 74, 135, 102, 65, 131, 77, 93, 23, 124, and 69 n.o in this match.”While the message praised Kohli, many fans questioned its timing. They felt there was no need to defend him now since he has been performing consistently. Some also pointed out that earlier criticism was mostly about his struggles in Test cricket, not limited-overs formats.
Kohli keeps scripting records
Kohli also reached major milestones during the game. He became the first player in IPL history to score 4000 runs in chases and moved past Shoaib Malik in T20 run charts. He scored his 64th IPL fifty and finished the match in style.Alongside him, Devdutt Padikkal played a quick knock as RCB chased down 203 in just 15.4 overs, boosting their net run rate early in the tournament.
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