Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli was in top form during the IPL 2026 final against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on Sunday, 31 May.
With RCB looking to chase down a total of 156, Kohli stepped up when it mattered the most, with a powerful knock of 75 not out from 42 balls.
RCB were once in a spot of bother at 91/4 in the ninth over after Krunal Pandya's dismissal, but chase master Kohli ensured that his team would defend their IPL title without any further hiccups.
Virat Kohli sets new milestone with POTM award
Kohli has set a new milestone after winning the Player of the Match (POTM) award in the final against Gujarat Titans. His POTM award on Sunday was his 22nd in the IPL, and he went past Mumbai Indians (MI) veteran Rohit Sharma, who has 21 POTM awards.
Kohli now has the most PTM awards in the IPL among Indians. In the overall players list, the Delhi cricketer is joint-second along with West Indian legend Chris Gayle, who also won 22 POTM awards during his IPL career.
Indians with most POTM awards in IPL (Top five)
| Player (Teams) | No. of POTM awards |
|---|
| Virat Kohli (RCB) | 22 |
| Rohit Sharma (DC/MI) | 21 |
| MS Dhoni (RPS/CSK) | 18 |
| Ravindra Jadeja (RR/GL/CSK) | 17 |
| KL Rahul (RCB/SRH/PBKS/LSG/DC) | 17 |
Kohli's former RCB teammate AB de Villiers leads this list with 25 POTM awards. Rohit Sharma is in third place with 21 POTM awards, whereas Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend MS Dhoni is in fourth place with 18 POTM awards.
Talking about the match, RCB won the toss and opted to field first against GT. Gujarat Titans lost their openers, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, early and were restricted to 45/2 in the powerplay phase.
The No 3 batter Nishant Sindhu (20) and Jos Buttler (19) both got off to starts but failed to convert into significant knocks. With wickets falling at the other end, GT were in a spot of bother at 115/6 in the 17th over, but Washington Sundar steadied the ship with an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls to take GT to 155/8.
Overall list of players with most POTM awards in IPL (Top five)
| Player (Teams) | No. of POTM awards |
|---|
| AB de Villiers (DC/RCB) | 25 |
| Virat Kohli (RCB) | 22 |
| Chris Gayle (KKR/RCB/PBKS) | 22 |
| Rohit Sharma (DC/MI) | 21 |
| David Warner (DC/SRH) | 18 |
In their reply, RCB were off to a strong start with Venkatesh Iyer (32) and Kohli forging 62 runs from just 27 balls for the first wicket, but RCB soon lost Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal in quick succession.
Skipper Rajat Patidar scored 15 runs off 13 balls before he and Krunal Pandya were dismissed in the ninth over, but Kohli's 41-run stand with Tim David (24) once again changed the complexion of the game.
RCB were 132/5 in the 14th over once David was dismissed, and it was only a matter of time before they chased the total down with two overs to spare.
Despite not being able to win the Orange Cap, Kohli still had a productive season with the bat. From 16 matches, the 37-year-old aggregated 675 runs at a strike-rate of 165.84, including five half-centuries and one century.
“Well, it’s the stuff that you dream of. I’ve thought of this moment many times, that, you know, once when we win the IPL, I should be standing there hitting the winning runs, and tonight it was possible. So yeah, just a dream day for us,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
