What is Virat Kohli’s performance in IPL finals?

Former India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Virat Kohli will be playing his fourth final in IPL history. The 36-year-old has been on the losing side for his side in the previous three times. One of those finals was against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, where Kohli was the captain of the side. Playing in front of their home fans, RCB went onto lose the finals by a close margin, prolonging their wait for a title. 
So far, Kohli is one of the few cricketers who has played in all the 18 seasons of the league. In 266 games, the former India batter has scored 8618 runs with an average of 39 and a strike rate of 132. Kohli has also scored eight tonnes and 63 fifties during the course of his long IPL career. 

Speaking about the current season, Kohli has played 14 games so far and scored 614 runs. This is the third successive season that Kohli has aggregated over 600 runs with eight fifties with an average of 55 and a strike rate of 146. Kohli’s season best of 73 not out has come against Punjab Kings when the two sides met at the Mullanpur stadium. 

When we cast a look at Kohli’s record against PBKS, the former India and RCB skipper has played 35 games. With 1116 runs, Kohli just needs 19 runs to go past David Warner and become the top run-getter against Punjab in IPL history. Kohli has also scored one tonne and six fifties against PBKS with an average of 36 and a strike rate of 133. 

Virat Kohli’s performance in IPL finals

The first time Virat Kohli played in an IPL final was in the 2009 season for RCB against the Adam Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers. The right-handed batter scored seven runs from eight balls with one hit to the fence. Andrew Symonds and skipper Gilchrist combined to get rid of the young batter as RCB lost the game by six runs. 

Kohli’s second IPL final was in 2011 against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk Stadium. It was the home team that batted first and scored an imposing 205 on the board thanks to Murali Vijay’s 95 and Michael Hussey’s 63 as the pair added 159 for the first wicket. Batting at number three, Kohli scored 35 off 32 balls before Suresh Raina got the big wicket. 

RCB’s 2016 final against SRH saw David Warner’s side score 208 runs, with the skipper scoring 69. Yuvraj Singh’s 38 off 23 balls and Ben Cutting’s 15-ball 39 not out helped SRH post a huge total on the board. Needing 209 runs to win, RCB began well with Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli adding 114 runs for the first wicket in 10.3 overs. Gayle scored 76 off 38 balls with four boundaries and eight huge sixes. Skipper Kohli, on the other hand, scored 54 off 35 balls with five boundaries and two sixes. Barinder Sran sent back RCB’s skipper on the fifth ball of the 13th over to change the course of the game towards SRH.