Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s back-to-back IPL title win at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday night confirmed what many already believed: Virat Kohli is the greatest player in the history of the competition.
The case begins with the numbers. Kohli has scored 9,261 runs from 282 matches at an average of 40.09, with 9 centuries, 67 half-centuries and a highest score of 113.
He is the only batter in IPL history to cross 9,000 runs, and the gap between him and the next player on the all-time list grows every season he plays.
✅ 2016
✅ 2017
✅ 2018
✅ 2019
✅ 2024
✅ 2025
✅ 2026Virat Kohli ends as RCB’s top scorer in yet another season 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ay0Pjj4kUK
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 31, 2026
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His 2016 campaign remains the benchmark for individual batting in the competition’s history – 973 runs, four centuries, an average of 81.08 – a season that may never be surpassed.
But the numbers alone do not make the case. Kohli has played every single IPL season for one franchise since 2008. Through rebuilds, retirements and 17 years of heartbreak, he remained at RCB when every other option was available to him. That loyalty, sustained across nearly two decades, is without precedent in franchise cricket.
In Sunday’s final against Gujarat Titans, Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls to guide RCB to a five-wicket victory, making them only the third team in IPL history to successfully defend the title. It was a captain’s innings in all but name, delivered on the biggest stage, in front of more than 100,000 fans.
Big games demand big players 🫡
Virat Kohli is the Player of the Match of #TATAIPL 2026 Grand Finale 👏
Relive his knock ▶️ https://t.co/uNvVaYGfr7#Final | #TheFinalLeap | #RCBvGT pic.twitter.com/GU1KSTwkQH
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 31, 2026
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He spent 17 seasons without winning. Then won two in a row. The IPL has produced extraordinary batters – De Villiers, Gayle, Watson – but none have combined longevity, volume, consistency and match-winning ability across a 19-year career the way Kohli has.
One franchise. One jersey. More than nine thousand runs. Back-to-back titles. The debate is settled.
Photo: REUTERS/Amit Dave
