Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has praised Virat Kohli after Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday in the IPL 2026 final.
Chasing 156 for the win, Kohli scored a fine knock of 75 runs off just 42 balls. The talisman struck nine fours and three sixes in his blistering knock as he batted at the top of his game. The veteran once again made the most of his experience in the run-chase and got the job done for his team.
Thus, Kohli was awarded Player of the Match for his impressive performance. Kaif lauded Kohli for constantly improving his game at the top level in the modern era, when the demand is to score runs quickly.
“I feel Virat Kohli is enjoying. He knows he has to play for two to three more years. He will play on his own terms and even answer those who questioned his strike rate. Look at the very first game against Hyderabad and the final, he has given importance to strike rate on purpose. He has scored 14000 T20 runs, which is a lot, and he is improving yourself time and again, that hunger you will not see anywhere. Now, he wants to show people who are questioning him. In a 155 chase, if it was a Kohli from three to four years before, he would play run-a-ball, but he wants to show he can dominate,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
The former UP batter said Kohli needs to have a chat with the opposition players to get the best out of himself. Kohli was seen having some banter with Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill in the summit clash against GT.
“If a player makes up his mind that there is a point to prove, then he will play like this. I noticed one more thing, he wants someone to talk to him in a big game. I think he is the only player in the world who wants that contest to be there. He was talking to Sai, and a light banter happened there. Before that, he was talking to Gill. This is Kohli’s method, no matter what anyone makes of it. I think he wants that chatter, and he is the only one I have seen who wants that,” he expressed.
“He enjoys this. It brings extra motivation and a different energy in his batting. He wants someone to sledge him. People think what he is doing, but that is his method,” Kaif added.
Kohli scored a total of 675 runs in 16 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 56.25 and a strike rate of 165.84.
