Virat Kohli's bad run in IPL playoffs just won't end. He got out for 43 against Gujarat Titans in the qualifier, meaning his ten-year-long wait for a playoff half-century will continue.
Ahmedabad: Even though he's the IPL's top run-scorer, Virat Kohli's playoff troubles continued this year as well. In the IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans, he fell just seven runs short of a half-century. This means he'll have to wait even longer to score a fifty in an IPL playoff match. It's been ten long years since he last managed one.
Kohli actually got off to a great start against Gujarat's pacers. He smashed 43 runs from just 25 balls, at a strike rate of 172. But in the ninth over, Jason Holder's delivery got the better of him, and he was bowled. The last time Kohli scored a fifty in a playoff game was way back in the 2016 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he made 54. The 43 runs he scored against Gujarat is his highest playoff score since then.
His Playoff Numbers Tell a Story
In his IPL career, Kohli has played 17 playoff matches and scored a total of 396 runs. He has only managed to cross the fifty-run mark twice. His highest score in a playoff is 70 not out against Chennai Super Kings in 2011. His other half-century was the 54 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016. Fans are often left disappointed because the man who scores mountains of runs in the league stage just can't seem to repeat that magic in crucial knockout games.
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While Kohli couldn't deliver, captain Rajat Patidar played an unbelievable knock that took Bengaluru to their highest-ever score in playoff history. Patidar smashed an unbeaten 93 from just 33 balls, powering RCB to a massive total of 254. Apart from Kohli's 43, Devdutt Padikkal (30 off 18) and Krunal Pandya (43 off 28) also chipped in with useful runs.
