Virat Kohli was named the Player of the Match for scoring 81 off 44 balls, laced with 8 fours and 4 sixes. Royal Challengers Bengaluru completed the target of 206 runs in 18.5 overs against the Gujarat Titans in their fifth and last group stage match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal added 115 runs for the second wicket, with the latter also amassing a fifty.

Most Player of the Match Awards in IPL

25 – AB de Villiers

22 – Chris Gayle

21 – Rohit Sharma

20 – Virat Kohli

18 – MS Dhoni

18 – David Warner

17 – Ravindra Jadeja

17 – Sunil Narine

16 – Yusuf Pathan

16 – Andre Russell

16 – Shane Watson

Virat spoke about his knock and the contributions of his teammates in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“To be honest, we had to assess the wicket early on because they have a quality bowling attack and chasing 200 in the Chinnaswamy needed one big partnership,” he said.

The right-handed hailed Padikkal for his magnificent batting.

“This is the second time Dev has come and done this. You never see him slogging the ball, and he plays freely. His innings was the difference in the first half, and then I was trying to stay in the game so he wouldn’t feel the pressure. Even in our bowling innings, we did well to pull things back. We were looking at 230-235 at one stage. The feedback was that the pitch was not bad at all. Best batting conditions we’ve had this season.

“So if we stayed in the game long enough, it would get tougher and tougher for bowlers. Dev was going great guns, and the idea was to keep the pressure on the bowlers. There was intent, clarity and feedback from the other, and we didn’t have any doubts in the partnership, and that’s what worked for us,” he added.

Kohli shed light on his consistency and body language.

“The body language comes from a belief in your abilities, and we have a tremendous batting lineup. If you look at the talent on display, we have guys who can play good cricket shots, you have the power of Tim David and Shepherd, and then you have the smarts of Krunal. So the message is simple – you see a ball to hit, go for it because you have the depth,” he mentioned.

Virat didn’t forget to thank the RCB fans for their support and love in the 19th season of the league.

“Firstly, we were quite happy we were able to play five games here, and the fans got to see the team again. Special place to play cricket and hopefully we’ll be able to come back and play here again later in the season,” he concluded.

Virat has taken his run tally to 328 in seven matches and is the current holder of the Orange Cap in the IPL 2026.