Virat Kohli (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: Bengaluru’s royal challenger and India’s T20 batting maestro Virat Kohli’s evolution has become one of the defining stories of the IPL 2026 season, with former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar attributing the change to a fundamental realization – that the superstar is “not indispensable” anymore.Kohli on Monday became the first batsman in IPL history to cross 9,000 runs, achieving the milestone during RCB’s clash against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. He sealed a comfortable chase of 76 with an unbeaten 23 off 15 balls and finished in style with back-to-back sixes.
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Virat Kohli opens his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma’s new academyWith 9,012 runs from 275 matches at an average of 40 overs, Kohli continues to dominate the league. He has amassed 351 runs this season at an astonishing rate of 162.50 – a sharp jump from his career strike rate of around 133.“He decided to bat faster”Manjrekar believes the shift is less technical and more mental. “You see Virat Kohli’s bat differently… it’s nothing that’s changed. He’s just decided to bat faster,” he told Sportsstar’s The Insight Edge podcast.According to him, Kohli used to prefer anchoring the innings, often rotating the strike beyond the boundary to bat deep into the innings. “He wanted to extend his innings and play longer because he felt he had to be the man to bat most of the innings and he didn’t trust the batsmen in the order,” explained Manjrekar.He claims this mindset has held RCB in the past. “RCB changed when Virat Kohli at the top started batting a bit faster and didn’t become nearly indispensable. And that’s when the others blossomed under him as well.”Trust in teammates unlocks RCBThe numbers support this transformation. Over the past three seasons, Kohli’s strike rate has risen – from 154.69 in 2024 to 144.71 in 2025 and now 162.50 in 2026 – reflecting a clear intention to maximize scores rather than preserve his wicket.Manjrekar emphasized that modern T20 requires aggression over longevity. “When you have eight batsmen in just 20 overs, there is no scope for picking up ones and twos just to extend the innings. You have to try and maximize,” he said, adding that players who are too focused on milestones risk hurting the team.“Nobody’s goal is more important”Drawing parallels with KL Rahul, Manjrekar said many top-order batsmen used to carry the burden of being the “main man” which slowed down the scoring rate.“T20 cricket is not about someone thinking their wicket is important… if someone is worried about getting out and just extending the innings, that player becomes a hindrance,” he noted.Kohli’s shift is therefore as much about confidence as it is about pace – trusting the batsmen around him and freeing himself from the need to carry the innings alone. And as RCB reaps the rewards, it’s a lesson in reshaping modern T20 batting.
