New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore and India maestro Virat Kohli’s evolution in T20 batting has become one of the defining stories of the IPL 2026 season, with former India batsman Sanjay Manjrikar attributing the change to a key realization – that superstardom is no longer “inevitable”.Kohli on Monday became the first batsman to cross 9,000 runs in IPL history, 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, finishing in style with back-to-back sixes.
With 9,012 runs in 275 matches at an average above 40, Kohli continues to dominate the league. This season, he has scored 351 runs at a strike rate of 162.50 – 133 off his career strike rate.‘He decided to bat faster’Manjrekar believes that this change is less technical and more mental. He said on Sportsstar’s The Insight Edge podcast, “You’re looking at Virat Kohli’s batting differently… Nothing has changed. It’s just that he’s decided he’s going to bat faster.”According to him, Kohli preferred to anchor the innings first, often rotating strikes after boundaries 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 for most of the innings and he didn’t trust the batsmen at all,” explained Manjrekar.He argues that this mentality has held RCB back in the past. “RCB changed when Virat Kohli at the top started batting a little faster and didn’t make himself nearly as indispensable. And that’s when others opened up under them.”Trust in teammates unlocks RCB.The number behind this change. Over the last three seasons, Kohli’s strike rate has increased – from 154.69 in 2024 to 144.71 in 2025 and now 162.50 in 2026 – reflecting a clear intention to score as much as possible rather than save his wicket.Manjrikar asserted that modern T20 calls for aggression on longevity. “When you have eight batsmen for just 20 overs, there is no room to take one and two just to extend the innings. You have to try and do as much as possible,” he said, adding that over-focusing on milestones risks damaging the team.‘No one’s wicket is more important’Drawing parallels with KL Rahul, Manjrekar said that earlier many top-order batsmen were burdened with being “man-men”, which reduced the scoring rate.He remarked that T20 cricket does not think about anyone whose wicket is important… If someone is concerned about getting out and just increasing the innings, that player becomes responsible.Kohli’s shift, therefore, is as much about confidence as it is about tempo – trusting the batting unit around him and freeing himself from the need to carry the innings single-handedly. And as RCB reap the rewards, this is a lesson in reshaping modern T20 batting.
