Virat Kohli In 2026: Three Historic Milestones Within Grasp Of India Great

Virat Kohli had a special 2025. The former Indian cricket team captain finally won the IPL trophy with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) while also winning the Champions Trophy with the national side. He ended the year with two centuries against South Africa in India's final ODI series of the year. The year 2026 has the prospect of being really special for Kohli. He can achieve three major milestones this year.

First to 9000 IPL runs

Virat Kohli needs just 339 runs in IPL 2026 to become the first batter ever to touch 9000 runs in the tournament. He currently has 8661 runs in 259 innings and is the top scorer in IPL history. Rohit Sharma (7046 runs in 267 innings) is second to him.

Kohli has played for only one team - RCB - in his entire career. In none of the last three IPL seasons has Kohli scored less than 600 runs.

Second to slam 15,000 ODI runs

Kohli can become the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to score 15,000 ODI runs. Tendulkar has 18,426 runs in 452 ODI innings and is the only batter to score over 15,000 runs in ODIs. Kohli currently has 14,557 runs in 296 innings and is the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket. Kohli needs 443 runs to reach the 15,000-run mark.

Second-highest run-scorer in international cricket

Kohli can achieve this milestone in his first match of 2026 against New Zealand. He has 27,975 runs in 623 innings (Tests + ODIs + T20Is) in international cricket. With 42 more runs, Kohli will surpass Kumar Sangakkara's mark of 28,016 runs to become the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket.

Topics mentioned in this article

Virat Kohli India Cricket Team Royal Challengers Bengaluru Cricket