Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has drawn a correlation between Virat Kohli’s shift in batting approach in the IPL this season and Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s surge in dominance. They are currently placed second on the table, having lost just two games so far. Although he termed it a more “mental than technical” change in approach, Manjrekar risked backlash by revealing what he believes to be the true reason behind the shift.
Kohli has predominantly been an anchor batter in the T20 format. And amid the changing dynamics of the shortest format, the dip in his strike rate to 119.47 and 115.99 during the 2021 and 2022 IPL seasons, respectively, triggered massive criticism, with many even questioning his place in the RCB and even the Team India line-up at the time.
Kohli, who became the first batter in IPL history to amass 9000 runs, improved his strike rate significantly to 154.69 in 2024. Although it dipped slightly to 144.71 the following year, he has been scoring at his best strike rate in 2026, currently at 162.50.
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Speaking to Sportstar, Manjrekar said the shift in Kohli’s approach has been largely mental. “You’re seeing Virat Kohli bat differently… nothing technical has changed. It’s only that he’s decided that he’s going to bat quicker,” he said.
The former India batter then broke it down, explaining that Kohli earlier relied heavily on strike rotation and taking the game deep, largely because RCB lacked depth in the lower order. However, he now appears to trust his teammates more, allowing him to play with greater freedom at the top and score quicker in the powerplay. This shift, according to Manjrekar, has helped RCB evolve into a stronger batting unit.
“He wanted to extend his innings and play longer because he felt he had to be the one batting through most of it and didn’t quite trust the batters down the order,” Manjrekar said. “RCB changed when Virat Kohli at the top started batting a little quicker and didn’t make himself almost indispensable. That’s when the others also blossomed under him.”
However, Manjrekar added—at the risk of facing backlash—that he believes the real reason behind Kohli’s change in approach stems from the criticism he faced over his strike rates in previous IPL seasons.
“This is, again, going to rile people up. We have seen Virat Kohli bat differently and superbly this season, at a strike rate of 140–150. This is the same Virat Kohli; nothing has changed,” he said. “It’s only that he has decided to bat quicker. And why has he decided that? Because he could see the pressure building and people talking about him batting a little too slowly.”
In IPL 2026, Kohli has scored 351 runs and is already a strong contender for the Orange Cap.