Virat Kohli etched yet another IPL landmark on Sunday, reaching the 500-run mark in IPL 2026 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. The knock added to Kohli’s growing list of milestones and underlined his importance to RCB’s push toward the playoffs.
Kohli’s 500-plus milestone and record streak
With the achievement, Kohli recorded his ninth IPL season with 500 or more runs—an IPL-best for any batter. In IPL 2026 specifically, he has already amassed 542 runs so far.
David Warner and KL Rahul are next in the standings for most seasons of 500-plus runs, with seven each. Shikhar Dhawan follows with five such campaigns.
- Virat Kohli — 9
- David Warner — 7
- KL Rahul — 7
- Shikhar Dhawan — 5
The Sunday innings also helped Kohli break his own mark for the most runs against a single opposition in IPL history. Prior to the match, his highest total versus any team was 1,174 runs against Chennai Super Kings. In his 58-run knock against Punjab Kings, he moved his tally against them to 1,217.
Most runs against one opponent in IPL:
- 1,217 — Virat Kohli vs PBKS
- 1,174 — Virat Kohli vs CSK
- 1,172 — Virat Kohli vs DC
- 1,161 — Rohit Sharma vs Kolkata Knight Riders
- 1,134 — David Warner vs PBKS
- 1,126 — Virat Kohli vs KKR
How the innings unfolded
- Kohli scored 58 runs off 37 balls in Bengaluru’s innings.
- He was dismissed on the final ball of the 15th over.
- Yuzvendra Chahal was the bowler who trapped Kohli.
For RCB, Kohli has once again been central to the team’s batting output this season, as Bengaluru continue their attempt to secure a playoff place.
Pre-match context and toss
- Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to bowl first against RCB.
- The encounter marked the 100th IPL game as captain for Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer.
- RCB entered the fixture at the top of the points table, having won 8 of their 12 matches.
- A win for RCB would further boost their chances of finishing in the playoff positions.
- Punjab Kings, meanwhile, were trying to halt a five-match losing streak.
