Dale Steyn exclaimed, "He's a genius," while Ian Bishop mentioned "the tempo" in reference to Virat Kohli following his pivotal performance in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) commanding victory against Gujarat Titans (GT) in their IPL 2026 match in Bengaluru on Friday.
At 184.09, Kohli hit 81 in 44 balls to start the innings and reclaim the Orange Cap. After seven innings, he now has 328 runs.
"On ESPNcricinfo's Time:Out program, Steyn, Kohli's former teammate at RCB, stated, "He's always looking to try and get better."We discuss about him. What is in front of him is what he plays. He interprets the circumstances.

"He's figured out a way to reach the last runs. He is the greatest chaser in the history of the game.
At the high-scoring M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB was playing at home. However, the goal of 206 wasn't trivial even though it wasn't huge. "When we went into the dressing room [after the GT innings], we felt they were probably 15-20 runs short," Devdutt Padikkal said after the game. Padikkal scored a 27-ball 55 in a partnership of 115 in 59 balls for the second wicket with Kohli, who was only slower in comparison, contributing 59 in 32 balls. "And that gave us the confidence going into the batting innings."

"Although he's achieved everything that is there to be achieved in this game, he still continues to give his 100% in every single practice session and every single match that he plays," Padikkal stated in reference to Kohli, with whom he batted from the fourth over to the thirteenth. And it's very difficult to find that type of dedication. Additionally, everyone on the side benefits greatly when they witness someone who is extremely motivated and passionate about the game. His enthusiasm is undoubtedly benefiting the entire team.

According to Padikkal, a major factor in Kohli's development as a T20 batsman must be his dedication and determination. Prior to IPL 2024, he has only surpassed the 140 strike rate threshold in three seasons, having first done so in 2010. His score in 2024 was 154.70. He went at 144.71 in 2025. And this season, he is at 163.18. There has never been an issue with the runs. The 973 that Kohli scored in 2016 is the highest score ever. He hasn't failed to score 400 runs in a season since 2016, with the exception of 2017 and 2022. In the previous three seasons, he scored 639, 741, and 657.

"I love Kohli the batter," Bishop declared. "But the evolution of those numbers for a guy who is in his mid-30s [37] now, [that he] continues to evolve in a game that has gone high-tempo and high-gear is to me extraordinary, that he's been able to do this and find a role for himself in such a position."
It is well known that Kohli excels at white-ball run chases, and following the victory, he provided some insight into that area of his game."At one point, we were considering [a chase of] 230-235. The feedback was that the pitch was really good. "The best batting conditions we've had this season," he said to the media after winning Player-of-the-Match once more. It would therefore become increasingly difficult for [the GT] bowlers if we continued to play for a long enough period of time. The goal was to maintain pressure on the bowlers while Dev was going all out. We didn't have any doubts about the cooperation because there was intent, clarity, and feedback, and that's what worked for us."

RCB is content for him to pursue his interests in this job. After all, they won the championship for the first time last year. As RCB concluded their league-stage matches at the Chinnaswamy, Kohli appeared to issue a warning to the other teams, saying, "Special place to play cricket and hopefully we'll be able to come back and play here again later in the season."