In one of the more remarkable stories to emerge from IPL 2026, Virat Kohli played through a serious hamstring injury during the final against Gujarat Titans to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a five-wicket victory. This was confirmed in a report by Sportstak, the injury has now been identified as a distal semimembranosus tendon tear, an uncommon condition that causes acute knee pain, and has resulted in Kohli being ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan beginning June 13 in Dharamsala.
What Happened During the Final
The first signs of trouble emerged in the 11th over of RCB’s run chase. After running a couple between the wickets off the fourth ball of that over, Kohli signalled for the physio and received treatment on the field for discomfort in his right hamstring. After initial attention he returned to the crease and, remarkably, went on to score his fastest ever IPL fifty off just 25 balls. The discomfort did not ease as the innings progressed. In the 13th over he was visibly hobbling to the other end for a single off Rashid Khan’s bowling. He batted through all of it and eventually finished with an unbeaten 75, sealing the title with a six off the final ball of the 18th over.
Kohli Called to Centre of Excellence
Kohli has been asked to report to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, where Hardik Pandya is already present attempting to prove his fitness ahead of the Afghanistan series. Rohit Sharma is also expected to check in at the facility, with his participation in the ODI series similarly subject to a fitness assessment.
England Tour Hanging in the Balance
The full extent of the injury remains uncertain pending an official medical update from the BCCI. Hamstring tendon tears of this nature typically require anywhere between three to eight weeks for recovery, with some cases extending up to 12 weeks. Kohli’s exceptional fitness levels may allow him to shorten that timeline, but for now a question mark hangs over his availability for the three-ODI series against England as well, which is scheduled to begin on July 14 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Should Kohli miss the England series too, it would represent a significant setback for India’s preparations ahead of the ODI World Cup 2027. He had been in outstanding form across ODIs in the period leading up to the IPL, scoring centuries and breaking records in home series against South Africa and New Zealand, in addition to making a productive return to the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2025-26. Losing him at this stage of the World Cup preparation cycle is a blow India can ill afford.
Updated ODI Schedule
First ODI: June 13, 2026, Dharamsala, 1:30 PM IST
Second ODI: June 17, 2026, Lucknow, 1:30 PM IST
Third ODI: June 20, 2026, Chennai, 1:30 PM IST
Original Squad as Announced
Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma*, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Hardik Pandya*.
*Subject to fitness clearance
