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Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar praised star RCB batter Virat Kohli after the latter’s heroics gave the team two IPL titles in a row.
Manjrekar spoke about Virat Kohli’s excellent batting show in IPL 2026 in a video posted to his Instagram account. Kohli finished IPL 2026 as RCB’s highest run-getter of the season and won the Player of the Match award in the final.
Manjrekar analyzed Kohli’s new batting template in the T20 format that made RCB just the third team to defend their IPL title.
Virat Kohli in IPL 2026
In IPL 2026, Virat Kohli made a new record by becoming the first batter to cross the 600-run mark for four IPL seasons in a row.
Overall, he made 675 runs in 16 matches and finished fourth on the Orange Cap table. He had a batting average of 56.25 and a strike rate of 166. Including his unbeaten 75 in the final, he had 5 half-centuries and a century in the season.
He also hit 73 fours in the season, the third most by any player. Just like in 2025, Kohli became RCB’s highest run-scorer in the IPL season, when his team won the title in 2026.
In the Final against the Gujarat Titans, Kohli guided RCB’s chase of 156 with an unbeaten 75 despite wickets falling at the other end. His knock earned him the Player of the Match Award.
“He bats in third and fourth gear” – Manjrekar
In the video posted on his Instagram handle, Manjrekar said Kohli had found the ideal template for batting in T20 cricket.
He opined that Kohli knew he had to bat at a higher strike rate than usual, and hence was cashing in in the powerplay with only two fielders outside the circle.
“At this stage, watching him in this tournament, he has mastered the art of T20 batting that is needed in IPL cricket. Which means now he knows that he has to score at a 150 to 160 strike rate. So he cashes in the first six overs. The most important thing is that he has found this power game, which is just about optimum. It’s almost like he is in third and fourth gear, while the others are trying to hit at a strike rate of 200 and 230,” Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar then explained that Virat Kohli was not relying on mishits and lucky drops to flourish, unlike most other batters in the powerplay this year.
“Because of that, there are mishits, and they have to be lucky with someone dropping a catch, and then their innings flourish. Virat Kohli has ensured that there aren’t any mishits because he’s just hitting the ball long enough to go over the boundary, thereby ensuring his technique and balance are right. The bottom hand jab comes into play,” Manjrekar continued.
“He is still more reliant on fours” – Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar observed that, despite batting at a higher strike rate than he was used to, Kohli was still relying on his trusted method of relying on more fours than sixes.
In IPL 2026, Virat Kohli hit 73 fours compared to just 25 sixes.
Manjrekar also said that Kohli’s newfound methods could easily serve RCB for a few more years.
“When hitting boundaries, Kohli is still big on fours rather than sixes as he does in white-ball international cricket. Having mastered the art of T20 batting, I don’t see it quickly fading away from Kohli. He will keep working on his fitness, and he has found this template to be consistent and go with the modern times of strike rate. This form of Virat Kohli will be there for a while, and thereby, RCB will be very fortunate and, in a way, very deserving as well,” said Manjrekar.
