Batting superstar Virat Kohli opened the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final of IPL 2026 and played an unbeaten knock of 75 runs from 42 balls against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31). He hammered 9 fours and 3 sixes during his stay at the crease at the Narendra Modi Stadium and helped the Bengaluru-based franchise chase down the target of 156 runs in 18 overs for the loss of only five wickets.
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For his superb show with the bat in the IPL 2026 final, the right-handed batter from Delhi, who has been associated with RCB since the first season, won the Player of the Match (POTM) award.
The POTM award won by Kohli against GT in the IPL 2026 final is his 22nd POTM award overall
in the IPL.
He now tops the list of Indian players with the most POTM awards in the IPL.
Former India and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma is now second on the list with 21 POTM awards, while MS Dhoni occupies third position with 18 POTM awards in 278 IPL matches played so far for two teams (Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant).
Most Player Of The Match (POTM) awards in IPL (Indian players)
| PLAYER | TEAM(S) | MATCHES | POTM AWARDS |
| Virat Kohli | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 283 | 22 |
| Rohit Sharma | Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians | 281 | 21 |
| MS Dhoni | Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant | 278 | 18 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions | 268 | 17 |
| KL Rahul | Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi Capitals | 159 | 17 |
| Yusuf Pathan | Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 174 | 16 |
| Suresh Raina | Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions | 205 | 14 |
| Sanju Samson | Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals | 191 | 14 |
| Shubman Gill | Kolkata Knight Riders, Gujarat Titans | 134 | 14 |
| Gautam Gambhir | Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders | 154 | 13 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiant, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings | 212 | 13 |
In IPL history, only AB de Villiers is now ahead of Kohli in the list of players with the most POTM awards. The former South African cricketer played 184 IPL matches for two teams (Delhi Capitals and RCB) and won 25 POTM awards.
As of now, Kohli is joint-second on the list. Apart from Kohli, Chris Gayle has also won 22 POTM awards in the IPL.
Most Player Of The Match (POTM) awards in IPL
| PLAYER | TEAM(S) | MATCHES | POTM AWARDS |
| AB de Villiers | Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 184 | 25 |
| Chris Gayle | Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings | 142 | 22 |
| Virat Kohli | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 283 | 22 |
| Rohit Sharma | Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians | 281 | 21 |
| MS Dhoni | Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant | 278 | 18 |
| Sunil Narine | Kolkata Knight Riders | 202 | 18 |
| David Warner | Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 184 | 18 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions | 268 | 17 |
| KL Rahul | Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi Capitals | 159 | 17 |
The former West Indies opening batter and captain played 142 matches for three teams — Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings — from 2009 to 2021.
