Virat Kohli added another milestone to his defining IPL career after guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their second consecutive Indian Premier League title on Sunday. The star batter was named Player of the Match in the IPL 2026 final against Gujarat Titans, marking the first time he has won the award in an IPL title clash.
Kohli played a match-winning unbeaten knock of 75 off 42 deliveries as RCB chased down a target of 156 with five wickets in hand in Ahmedabad. His innings included nine fours and three sixes, while his half-century came off just 25 balls, making it the fastest IPL fifty of his career.
The innings also turned out to be Kohli’s highest score in an IPL playoff match and helped RCB become only the third franchise in tournament history to win back-to-back IPL titles after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Virat Kohli joins exclusive IPL Finals list
Kohli’s knock was also significant from a historical perspective. He became one of only seven batters in IPL history to register multiple 50-plus scores in tournament finals.
Complete list of IPL Final Player of the Match Winners
2008 – Yusuf Pathan
2009 – Anil Kumble
2010 – Suresh Raina
2011 – Murali Vijay
2012 – Manvinder Bisla
2013 – Kieron Pollard
2014 – Manish Pandey
2015 – Rohit Sharma
2016 – Ben Cutting
2017 – Krunal Pandya
2018 – Shane Watson
2019 – Jasprit Bumrah
2020 – Trent Boult
2021 – Faf du Plessis
2022 – Hardik Pandya
2023 – Devon Conway
2024 – Mitchell Starc
2025 – Krunal Pandya
2026 – Virat Kohli
Kohli Scripts Another IPL Record
The Player of the Match award was Kohli’s 22nd in IPL history. With that, he moved past Rohit Sharma’s tally of 21 awards and now holds the record for the most Player of the Match awards among Indian cricketers in the IPL.
Indians With Most Player of the Match Awards In IPL
1. Virat Kohli – 22
2. Rohit Sharma – 21
3. MS Dhoni – 18
4. Ravindra Jadeja – 17
5. KL Rahul – 17
RCB bowlers set up historic triumph
Before Kohli finished the job with the bat, RCB’s pace attack laid the platform for victory. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Gujarat Titans openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan inside the powerplay, putting the defending champions under pressure early in the contest.
The disciplined bowling effort restricted GT to a manageable total, allowing Kohli to anchor the chase and lead RCB to another memorable title victory.
