Virat Kohli's record in IPL playoffs? Can Bengaluru talisman turn the tables in RCB vs GT Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli will be in focus on Tuesday when his team take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala. Kohli has enjoyed an excellent IPL 2026 season so far, aggregating 557 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of 163.82.

He has registered four half-centuries and one century. His current strike rate, in fact, is the highest that he has recorded in a single season of the IPL. Virat Kohli is currently in ninth place in the Orange Cap standings for IPL 2026.

From 17 matches in the IPL playoffs, the Delhi cricketer has scored just 396 runs at an underwhelming average of 26.4 and a strike rate of 121.1. The 37-year-old has scored just two half-centuries in the IPL playoffs, and also includes one duck that came against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in 2016.

Overall, the right-handed batter is the all-time run-getter in the IPL with 9218 runs from 273 innings at a strike rate of 134.39. He has registered 67 half-centuries and nine centuries.

Virat Kohli has enjoyed a stellar reputation in the IPL, having won the Orange Cap twice, in 2016 and 2024. Kohli set the record for most runs in a single IPL season in 2016, when he scored 973 runs from 16 matches. In IPL 2024, he finished with 741 runs from 15 matches.

In the IPL 2025 playoffs, Virat Kohli scored 12 runs from as many balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 1, before going on to slam 43 runs from 35 balls in the final against the Shreyas Iyer-led side.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru qualified for the IPL 2026 playoffs following a 23-run win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Dharamsala. The Rajat Patidar-led side finished in first place with 18 points from 14 matches, despite a 55-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their last league stage match.

RCB, in fact, finished with a superior Net Run Rate (+0.783) over second-placed Gujarat Titans (+0.695) and third-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad (+0.524), both of whom also finished with 18 points.

The winner of Tuesday’s Qualifier 1 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans will qualify directly to the IPL 2026 final that will take place on 31 May.

The loser will get another shot at making the final, when they take on the winner of the Eliminator in Mullanpur on Friday. Sunrisers Hyderabad will lock horns against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator in Mullanpur on Wednesday.

RCB are the defending champions of the IPL, having beaten Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 final in Ahmedabad last June to clinch their maiden title. Should RCB successfully defend the title, they will become the first team since Chennai Super Kings in 2011 to have done so.