Virat Kohli: In the first match of IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) performed brilliantly and defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 6 wickets on Saturday. Virat Kohli was the hero of RCB’s victory in the match played on M. Chinnaswamy’s ground. Kohli said that he got the benefit of his excellent ODI form in this match also.

After giving RCB a resounding win in the first match of the season, Kohli said, ‘It feels good to be back on the field. You talked about T20 cricket, the last match I played was last year’s final, but I think the way I batted recently in the ODI series really helped me maintain my momentum. I was not playing shots that I don’t usually play. So I knew that as long as I had the rhythm and worked on my fitness behind the scenes, things would go well. Yeah, tonight was another opportunity to get off to a good start and build on that.”

I give my 120 percent

Virat Kohli said that the break helps him to become fresh again. He said, ‘Because of the kind of schedule I have had in the last 15 years and the amount of cricket I have played, there is a risk that I will get tired. These breaks help me mentally. I stay fresh, I stay excited. Whenever I come back to play, I give my 120 percent. I don’t come back unprepared. In fact, the extra rest helps me refresh mentally. As long as you remain physically fit and mentally excited, things will go well.”

Kohli praised Padikkal

Kohli scored unbeaten 69 runs in 38 balls with the help of 5 fours and 5 sixes. Virat got good support from Devdutt Padikkal from the other end. Padikkal batted in explosive style and scored 61 runs in 26 balls. Kohli praised Padikkal a lot. He said, ‘Wonderful innings.’ I mean, right from the beginning, my plan was to bat aggressively in the powerplay. However, when I saw Padikkal playing, I thought just keep getting him back on strike and keep hitting boundaries here and there. He completely snatched the match from the opposing team. When he hit a six over mid-on, I told him to just keep playing like that.”

Credit given to domestic cricket

Virat also gave credit for Padikkal’s brilliant innings to his strong performance in domestic cricket. I told Padikkal that you are hitting the ball very well, just keep pushing and take the game away from the opposition team. If we win with 25-26 balls remaining, we will also benefit from it in net run rate. Padikkal’s innings was tremendous. I have seen him play closely. Padikkal is now using the skills he has. It is also the result of an excellent domestic season. Padikkal’s timing, head position, balance, looked absolutely world-class. I know what he can do with the bat when he is confident and he showed his ability in this match.