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Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) veteran opener Virat Kohli on May 13 scored his ninth Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 century. After two consecutive ducks, Kohli made the most of the dropped catch in the powerplay overs and remained unbeaten on 105 in the successful run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Raipur. During the innings, Kohli was animated. He celebrated his first run after two consecutive ducks, had conversations with opposition players, lauded Manish Pandey for his catch to dismiss Tim David and danced a little after getting to his century. One of the conversations were caught on stump mic and have gone viral on social media.
“Ab to India ke liye thodi na khelna hai, ab to har shot lagega (Now that I’m not playing T20Is for India, I’ll play every shot),” Kohli said during the run chase while shadow practicing the scoop shot.
Kohli ended up scoring 105 runs from 60 deliveries, including 11 fours and three sixes. It helped him climb to the third spot in the race for orange cap this season.
Kohli is retired from T20Is and Tests but continues to play ODIs for India. He intends to play in the ODI World Cup 2027 on South African soil.
Kohli achieves rare feats
Meanwhile, Kohli completed 14,000 T20 runs, becoming quickest to reach the feat (in terms of innings), breaking his former teammate Chris Gayle’s record.
This is the 12th time Kohli has crossed the 400-run mark in the season, most by any batter. He also equalled the record for most centuries in IPL run chases. He has joined Gujarat Titans’ (GT) Jos Buttler whose three centuries out of seven in IPL career have come while chasing.
Kohli’s next opponent and record against them
Kohli will be seen in action on May 17 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Dharamsala's HPCA Stadium. He needs 16 more runs to complete 500 runs in the season.
The 37-year-old has a stellar record against PBKS. He has 1,159 runs from 36 innings at an average of 36.21, including a century and six fifties. No other batter has more runs against PBKS than him. David Warner is the only other batter to score more than 1,000 runs against PBKS.
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