Virat Kohli’s Top 3 Greatest Innings in IPL History

India’s batting great Virat Kohli first pulled on a Royal Challengers Bengaluru jersey in the Indian Premier League’s inaugural 2008 season, and over the years that followed, he transformed into the tournament’s most prolific run-scorer. His 2016 campaign in particular rewrote the record books, and a century at Jaipur in 2024 underlined that his appetite for big scores had not dimmed.

Across his IPL career, Kohli has registered nine hundreds for RCB, more than any other batter in the competition’s history. Three of those centuries stand apart for the conditions, the opposition, and the sheer quality of batting on display.

Below are the top three greatest innings Kohli has produced in the Premier League:

3. 109 vs Gujarat Lions, Bengaluru, 2016

At M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 14, 2016, Kohli walked out and produced a century that formed part of one of the most celebrated partnerships in IPL history. Facing Gujarat Lions, he struck 109 off 55 balls, hitting 5 fours and 8 sixes at a strike rate of 198.18. AB de Villiers was equally destructive at the other end, and together the two batters added 229 runs in 16 overs, dismantling the Gujarat Lions attack and helping RCB post 248/3.

The victory margin of 144 runs was described at the time as the biggest in IPL history. The innings was also Kohli’s second century against Gujarat Lions in the same 2016 edition, making him the first player to score two hundreds against the same opponents in a single IPL season. That 2016 campaign ended with Kohli accumulating 973 runs, the highest single-season total in IPL history, earning him the Orange Cap.

2. 113 vs Kings XI Punjab, Bengaluru, 2016

Rain reduced the contest against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) on May 18, 2016, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, to a 15-over-per-side affair, yet Kohli produced arguably the most explosive innings of his IPL career. Despite carrying stitches in his hand, he blazed 113 off 50 balls, lacing 12 fours and 8 sixes. His century arrived in just 47 balls, the fastest IPL hundred of his career.

The shortened format demanded immediate aggression, and Kohli delivered precisely that, powering RCB to a formidable total in the truncated match. The knock is widely regarded as one of the most destructive displays of batting the IPL has witnessed.

1. 113* vs Rajasthan Royals, Jaipur, 2024

At Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 6, 2024, Kohli batted through the entire RCB innings to finish unbeaten on 113 off 72 balls, stroking 12 fours and 4 sixes at a strike rate of 156.94. It was his eighth IPL century at the time, placing him further ahead in the record books for the most hundreds in the tournament. The innings was one of the most talked-about knocks of the 2024 IPL season. Rajasthan Royals, however, successfully chased down the target, meaning Kohli’s brilliant effort came on the losing side.