Sanjay Manjrekar, former Indian player, has pointed out that the improvement in Virat Kohli’s strike rate in the IPL is due to his evolution in the role of RCB batsman, as he has now started to depend on the rest of the players in that batting order.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have also truly dominated this season as they entered the competition as defending champions for the first time in IPL history. They currently sit second in the points table and have managed to win 6 of their first eight games.

We have seen Virat Kohli bat differently: Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has pointed out that Virat Kohli, the legendary Indian batsman, has undergone a massive evolution in his batting style and as a result has scored runs at a higher strike rate.

After struggling with his poor strike rate in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Kohli slowly began to gain momentum in his innings in 2023, and continued to improve in the more recent seasons. His strike rate has seen a massive increase since 2024, making him more suited to modern cricket.

“This, again, is going to irritate Virat Kohli fans. We have seen Virat Kohli bat differently, bat magnificently this season, with a strike rate of 140-150. This is the same Virat Kohli, there is nothing that has changed. It is just that he has decided that he is going to bat faster.

“And why did he decide that? Because he could see the pressure increasing and people talking about him batting too slow. This 150 strike rate was 125-130 three-four years ago,” Sanjay Manjrekar told Sportstar.

“I didn’t trust the hitters in the order.” – Sanjay Manjrekar reveals the real reason behind Kohli’s poor strike rate

Manjrekar believes Kohli took on extra responsibility for the Royal Challengers as he felt a compulsion to play the anchor role and do most of the scoring due to his lack of confidence in the rest of the batting order.

“It was only because Virat Kohli would hit a boundary and then hit one or two, because he wanted to extend his innings and play longer, because he felt he had to be the man who bats most of the innings, and he didn’t trust the batsmen in the order.

“RCB changed when Virat Kohli, at the top, started batting faster and didn’t make himself indispensable. That’s when the others also flourished,” he added.

Kohli’s astonishing strike rate in IPL 2026

Virat, like the last few seasons, has once again been unstoppable with the bat. Despite having retired from the shortest format of the game at the international level, Kohli still challenges modern batsmen in the IPL with his stupendous run-scoring ability.

Opening the innings for the Royal Challengers, he amassed 351 runs in 8 games this season and scored runs at an average of 58.50, with two not out this season. However, what has been new about his batting this season is his spectacular strike rate.

Kohli’s strike rate this season has been around 162.50, which seems impressive considering his standards and the reliability he brings to the team, especially during chases. He will next be seen in the away clash against Gujarat Titans on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

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