{"id":48796,"date":"2026-04-15T22:28:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=48796"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:47:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T06:17:28","slug":"ipl-2026-rcb-vs-lsg-meet-virat-kohli-the-new-orange-cap-holder-of-ipl-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026-rcb-vs-lsg-meet-virat-kohli-the-new-orange-cap-holder-of-ipl-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026 RCB vs LSG: Virat Kohli storms past Heinrich Klaasen to grab the Orange Cap in IPL 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kohli\u2019s controlled risk, quiet fitness battle and usual chase authority<\/strong><\/p>\n

Virat Kohli was left out of the playing XI by Royal Challengers Bengaluru as a precaution after a minor fever and a knee or ankle niggle picked up in the previous game against Mumbai Indians. He was still named in the Impact Sub list, the first time in his IPL career he has been used in that role.<\/p>\n

Even with the discomfort, Kohli\u2019s intent did not change. He had played through pain earlier, with his knee heavily strapped, and still looked in rhythm. It raises a simple question: how does he keep doing it so consistently while carrying these small injuries?<\/p>\n

Chase master still sets the tone even when not fully fit<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Kohli is part of a chase at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the tempo often changes immediately. Against Mohammed Shami, he went after the first over with three straight boundaries. In the very next over from Prince, he took on the opposition attack and collected 17 runs, again showing why he remains the reference point in run chases.<\/p>\n

He now has 185 IPL sixes among Indian openers, going past the usual names in the list, and sits ahead of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in that category. More importantly, Virat Kohli has scored 228 runs in 5 matches this season at an average of 57.00 and a strike rate of 158.33, including 25 fours and 8 sixes, continuing his strong run of form\u00a0and securing the Orange Cap, overtaking Heinrich Klaasen, who has 224 runs.<\/p>\n

What stands out is not just volume, but control. He is pacing innings, keeping the required rate in check, and then accelerating when bowlers miss length. Even on a surface where others struggled, he made it look like a different pitch altogether.<\/p>\n

Impact role raises question, but Kohli remains central to RCB plans<\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision to use him as an Impact Sub was tactical, but it did not reduce his influence. He still came in and played his natural game, as if nothing had changed.<\/p>\n

He eventually fell for 49, just one short of a half-century, caught trying to push the scoring late in the innings. It was his first dismissal on 49 in IPL history, and another near-miss in a season where he continues to carry the batting load.<\/p>\n

Royal Challengers Bengaluru still rely heavily on him in chases. Even when not fully fit, his presence shifts the game. The real question now is not about form, but about how long they can manage his workload without affecting their strongest weapon in run chases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kohli\u2019s controlled risk, quiet fitness battle and usual chase authority Virat Kohli was left out of the playing XI by\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":48797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4057],"class_list":["post-48796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl","tag-top-stories"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48796"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48890,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48796\/revisions\/48890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}