Virat Kohli once again showed why he is one of the best players in the IPL, scoring an unbeaten 69 to help RCB comfortably chase down 202. After a long break from T20 cricket, he looked in top form and played a major role in the team’s strong start to the 2026 season.Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn praised Kohli’s development as a batsman, especially his improved sixes in recent seasons. Steyn said on JioStar, “A lot of players, when they get to the level of Virat Kohli, they seem to change their game by a few percentage points. That’s what Virat has been doing in every IPL season. He finds ways to improve himself and the new improvement he has made in his game is his ability to hit sixes, which has increased in the last two seasons.”
Steyn also spoke about how Kohli’s mindset has changed over time, adding, “In the past, Virat had a set mindset to play a certain shot, but now, after retiring from Test cricket, his mindset has changed a lot. Virat is so good and holds himself back that he is able to hit aerial shots again and again. It just shows the class of the man.”The stats also show that Kohli has become more aggressive in the powerplay over the years. His intent has steadily increased, making him even more dangerous.Devdutt Padikal highlighted how Kohli’s presence helped him play freely during the chase. “When I came out to bat, Virat Bhai’s only instructions were to keep the run-rate up and put pressure on the bowlers,” Padikal said after the match. My job was to take risks when they chased, so their presence took the pressure off me and allowed me to play freely.“The evolution and improvement of my game goes to our head coach Andy Flower and our batting coach Dinesh Karthik, bro. They really worked hard on me.”
