Virat Kohli was named the man of the match after Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2026 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. Kohli scored 81 off 44 balls RCB were chasing 206 in 18.5 overs. However, he termed Devdutt Padikkal as the real difference maker and the real hero of the victory.
Padikkal brought up his 20-ball fifty and scored 55 off 27 before being dismissed by Rashid Khan. Kohli added that their 115-run stand for the second wicket set the tone for the chase. He also recalled Padikkala’s 61 off 26 balls earlier in IPL 2026 when they shared a 101-run partnership in RCB won by six wickets over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“We had to assess the conditions early on. We were just one partnership away. We wanted to try and analyse. Padikkal has done it twice this season. That’s quite rare to be honest. His innings was the clear difference. I tried to be in the game. This partnership changed the game,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
RCB vs GT: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
VIRAT KOHLI PRAISES RCB BOWLER
Kohli also praised the RCB bowlers for not allowing the GT batsmen to run away with the game. The Titans were 170 after 16 overs and looked like they would be pushing for 230 or more. However, RCB conceded just 17 runs in the next three overs – less than a run-a-ball – before Krunal Pandya went for 18 in the final over.
“Even in our bowling innings, we did well to pull things back. We were looking at 230-235 at one stage,” Kohli added.
Kohli also had some luck on his side. In the very first over of the chase, RCB got a reprieve from the first ball he faced. Mohammed Siraj created a chance, but Washington Sundar dropped a simple catch at mid-wicket, after which Kohli paid for GT.
Kohli has also hit 300 sixes in the IPL and is now just 11 runs short of becoming the first batsman in the history of the tournament to reach 9,000 runs. Meanwhile, with the win over GT, RCB climbed to the second spot in the table with 10 points and a net rate of +1.101, having won five out of seven matches.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
25 Apr 2026 03:00 IST
