Virat Kohli is on fire for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2026 final. In the match taking place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31) against Gujarat Titans, Kohli needed just 25 balls to reach the 50-run mark. The fifty off 25 balls in the ongoing match is his fastest half-century in IPL history.
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He had previously needed 26 balls to reach the 50-run mark for RCB in an IPL 2018 match against Rajasthan Royals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
How many times have we seen this 🤩
Virat Kohli in his element 🔥
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Kohli
also scored a 26-ball IPL fifty against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in 2018 and reached the 50-run mark against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium in 2025.
Fastest 50s in IPL by Virat Kohli
| BALLS | AGAINST | VENUE | YEAR |
| 25 | Gujarat Titans | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 2026 |
| 26 | Rajasthan Royals | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | 2018 |
| 26 | Delhi Capitals | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 2018 |
| 27 | Lucknow Super Giants | Ekana Stadium, Lucknow | 2025 |
The fifty off 25 balls by Kohli on Sunday is also the joint-second-fastest fifty in an IPL final.
A total of three batters had previously needed 24 balls to reach the 50-run mark in IPL finals, and three batters have scored half-centuries off 25 balls.
Fastest 50s in IPL final
| PLAYER | TEAM | BALLS | AGAINST | VENUE | YEAR |
| Suresh Raina | Chennai Super Kings | 24 | Mumbai Indians | Navi Mumbai | 2010 |
| David Warner | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 24 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Bengaluru | 2016 |
| Venkatesh Iyer | Kolkata Knight Riders | 24 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Chennai | 2024 |
| Rohit Sharma | Mumbai Indians | 25 | Chennai Super Kings | Kolkata | 2015 |
| Chris Gayle | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 25 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Bengaluru | 2016 |
| Virat Kohli | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 25 | Gujarat Titans | Ahmedabad | 2026 |
The half-century by Kohli in the IPL 2026 final is his 68th fifty in the world’s richest franchise cricket league. No player has scored more half-centuries in IPL history than him.
Patidar creates history
Patidar is leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026 and on Sunday (May 31), during the final of this year’s IPL, he entered his name in the history books by becoming the second Indian cricketer after Virat Kohli to score 500 runs in a single edition of the IPL for RCB.
The right-handed batter from Madhya Pradesh, who led RCB to their maiden IPL title in 2025, needed 14 runs in the final against Gujarat Titans to take his tally to 500 runs in IPL 2026, and he needed just 12 balls to reach the milestone.
