IPL 2026 | Virat Kohli's silent impact: How modern T20 power-hitting builds on his template
Virat Kohli's enduring T20 prowess is highlighted as he continues to challenge for the Orange Cap, influencing a new generation of Indian batters. Despite the IPL's shift towards high-octane scoring, Kohli's consistent excellence and self-rediscovery, driven by a stubborn adherence to his methods, keep him at the pinnacle of the sport.
NEW DELHI: There are only a handful of games that Virat Kohli will play on his home turf in Delhi. That explains the deafening clamour for passes for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) weekday match against Delhi Capitals in the corridors of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). From brash non-conformist youngster to a spiritually driven statesman, the legend of Kohli is a story of constant evolution.
It’s a process that doesn’t cease, one that inspires awe in people who witness it firsthand. It has allowed him to go shoulder-to-shoulder with a younger generation that is rewriting the grammar of T20 batting, a process that helps him retain the superstardom even when an anti-superstar culture has been initiated in Indian cricket. IPL has transcended to a level where it is close to being dubbed as a different sport to what is being played around the world.
On Sunday, a staggering 986 runs were scored in 77. 2 overs in two matches. The use of unabated power, force and physicality behind those runs could match the violence of any action movie.
At the other end of the spectrum is Kohli who uses his bat as a fine piece of equipment that shreds the morale of the bowling attacks bit by bit, over by over. Match by match. Even as the world was recovering from Sunday’s gory run fest — that saw 265 and 229 being comfortably chased down — one must recall that it was Kohli who played the lead role in a comfortable 200-plus chase against Gujarat Titans an evening before.