Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the two greatest batters in the history of the IPL, and the Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma article would mark a comparison between the two legends of Indian cricket. Over all these years in the IPL, Rohit Sharma has played for the Mumbai Indians after moving in from the Deccan Chargers.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli has played for years in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The Indian masters of the shortest format, Virat and Rohit, have both amassed 4000+ runs in international T20s before calling it off in 2024, following India’s T20 World Cup triumph.
The two dignified cricketers have also captained India on former occasions. While Virat Kohli remains one of India’s most successful captains in red-ball cricket, with a remarkable win percentage, Rohit Sharma led them to consecutive finals of ICC tournaments and won a couple of trophies for them.
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Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma: A Revisit to their IPL career
India got their future superstar in the RCB camp. Royal Challengers had picked Kohli following India’s successful ICC U19 World Cup campaign under his captaincy. Kohli, as a youngster, made his IPL debut under the captaincy of Anil Kumble.
Kohli played for RCB over the years and first took charge as the captain of the side in 2013, although he had led the side formerly in the absence of Daniel Vettori in 2012.
Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, started his IPL career back in 2008 for the Deccan Chargers. Unlike Virat Kohli, he did not have to wait long to get his hands on the IPL trophy, as he won it in 2009 with the Deccan Chargers.
He then went on to play for the Mumbai Indians from 2011, when he first moved to the franchise. He was handed the captaincy after having played under the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, and Ricky Ponting as well.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma: Most Runs
Having played for the Deccan Chargers initially, Rohit, unlike Kohli, looked a more promising cricketer in his starting days. Playing over three seasons, he amassed 1170 runs for the Deccan Chargers before moving to the Mumbai Indians.
Sharma has been consistent in scoring 300 to 400+ runs across every IPL season and has amassed 7046 runs in his IPL career with 272 appearances. Though the batter averages below 30, he has two centuries and 47 half-centuries under his belt.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli has played only for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru throughout his career. His initial seasons were kept low, as Kohli struggled with his average as well as his low strike rate. This was mostly due to Kohli coming much lower in the batting order.
Virat Kohli has been the absolute star of the tournament, as he is far above Rohit in the runs tally and is the highest run-getter in the tournament. Having played in 267 games, he went on to score 8661 runs and has averaged nearly 40 with a strike rate of 132.37. He also has eight hundreds and 63 fifties in his IPL career.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma: IPL Records
RCB’s greatest cricketer, Virat Kohli, has many records up his sleeve. He is the highest run-scorer in IPL history and holds the record intact for having scored the most runs in a single edition of the tournament, with 973 runs in the 2016 edition.
He also holds the record for most centuries, with 8 of them to his name. On the other hand, Kohli also caught 117 catches in his IPL career, the most by any fielder in the IPL. He has the most runs scored as the captain in IPL history, with 4994 runs.
Rohit Sharma is the second-highest run-getter in IPL history, while he became the second player to go past the 7000 run mark. However, he is the most successful player in the IPL with 6 titles to his name, one with the Deccan Chargers and five with the Mumbai Indians.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma: Captaincy Record
While Rohit Sharma has captained for over 11 years in the IPL for the Mumbai Indians between 2011 and 2023, the RCBian Virat Kohli was a captain between 2013 and 2021, before passing it over to Faf du Plessis. Rohit was replaced by all-rounder Hardik Pandya in 2024.
Kohli captained the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in over 143 IPL matches and went on to win just 66 games while losing nearly 70 matches. This gives Kohli a win percentage of only 46.15%. He led RCB to only one final back in 2016 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, but could not win the title.
Rohit Sharma is the second most successful captain in the history of the competition. He took charge of the Mumbai Indians side after Ricky Ponting stepped down from captaincy in 2013. He has captained in 158 games and has managed to win 87 of those matches, boasting a win percentage of nearly 58%.
He led the Mumbai Indians to their maiden IPL title in 2013 and then went on to be the joint-highest successful captain in IPL history with 5 titles. He also has the second-highest number of wins as a captain in the IPL.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma: Who is the better?
Virat Kohli should be picked as the IPL favourite, considering his stunning form in the IPL over the recent years. He has amassed nearly 2000+ runs over the last three seasons in the IPL. He also scored over 650+ runs for RCB in IPL 2025 and was the man of the moment in their maiden IPL triumph.
Rohit Sharma has also revived his form in recent editions of the IPL. Sharma scored nearly half the number of runs as Kohli. Kohli’s contributions in the IPL have led to massive victories for the IPL teams. It can be said that Kohli is the better player over Rohit in the IPL and the latter is overall a far better captain.
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