Virat Kohli struck a vital fifty as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Delhi Capitals to move to the top of the IPL 2025 standings.
Virat Kohli produced another crucial knock, scoring his sixth half-century of IPL 2025, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru climbed to the top of the points table with a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals. Chasing 163 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, RCB were in early trouble at 26/3, but Kohli’s composed 51 off 47 balls, featuring four fours, helped them steady the innings. He stitched a century stand with Krunal Pandya to guide RCB home.
Following his latest knock, Kohli also seized the Orange Cap. He now has 443 runs from 10 innings, 16 more than Suryakumar Yadav, who sits second, while Sai Sudharsan is third with 417 runs.
Reflecting on the match, Kohli explained his approach and highlighted the challenges posed by the pitch in Delhi. “It was a top win, especially looking at the surface. We saw a few games here and this wicket played very different to the other games. Whenever there’s a chase on, I keep checking with the dugout, whether we’re on course, what is my role, the kind of innings I need to play. It was a top win; we were under pressure and me and Krunal getting a 100-run partnership.”
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When asked about his method during run-chases, Kohli shared insights into his process. “(I focus on) Total on the board, conditions, who are bowlers due to bowl, the bowlers that are going to be hard to get away. I try and make sure my singles and doubles don’t stop and then you keep getting the odd boundary in between. The game never gets stagnant. That’s always been my focus, to keep working on rotating strike, singles and doubles. People are forgetting the importance of stitching partnerships and or going deep into the innings in T20 cricket,” he explained.
Kohli further noted that IPL 2025 has underlined the significance of building partnerships rather than going after bowlers from the start.
“I think this year you are seeing you can’t just come out and tee off from ball one. You need have professionalism to read the situation and try get into a position where you can start dominating the bowlers and for that you need to stitch partnerships, and it won’t come easy if on a slow pitch you don’t know how to rotate the strike,” he said.
Summing up his strategy, Kohli added, “That’s pretty much my method, I analyse the conditions, understand what the score on the board is, understand what the situation demands of me and have the skills to keep rotating the strike.”
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