Virat Kohli surpassed his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Chris Gayle’s record for most centuries in the Indian Premier League even as his side’s playoff hopes came to a close on Sunday in Bengaluru.

The former RCB captain finished unbeaten on 101* off 61 balls. RCB finished with 197/5 in 20 overs. But a sensational innings by Shubman Gill, also a century and also back-to-back to power Gujarat Titans home.

Kohli followed up his century in Hyderabad with another magnificent innings against Gujarat Titans.

While that knock came in a run-chase, Kohli’s seventh century was a stunning innings in a must-win match for RCB. While he was off to a flying start, he had to check himself as wickets fell around him. He then exploded at the back-end once again. His century came at the start of the final over of the innings.

“Lot of people think that my T20 cricket is declining, I don’t feel like that at all,” Kohli said after the innings in an interview with the broadcasters.

“I think I am playing my best T20 cricket again. I’m just enjoying myself. This is how I play T20 cricket, I look to hit gaps, hit a lot of boundaries and then the big ones towards the end if the situation allows me to. You have to read situations and rise up to the occasion when the situation demands. I feel really good with my game at the moment and how I’m batting.”

Batters with most centuries in IPL (3+)

Player Tons
V Kohli  7
CH Gayle 6
JC Buttler 5
DA Warner 4
SR Watson 4
KL Rahul 4
AB de Villiers 3
SV Samson 3
via ESPNCricinfo

While the previous ton came with Faf du Plessis also in great form, here he had to do bulk of the scoring under pressure.

“We would have taken that with both hands once we were five wickets down through the middle overs with Anuj as the last recognised batsman left. We pretty much pulled things back nicely towards the end. We targeted 190 when we lost five, but getting close to 200 is a very competitive score and a winnable score for me,” Kohli said.

It was, of course, a must-win for RCB after MI defeated SRH earlier in the day. And a defeat ended their campaign.

Kohli became the first batter to score two centuries in the ongoing season of IPL and Gill joined him soon after. And Kohli was only the third batter to score consecutive centuries in IPL, also joined by Gill soon after.

Centuries in IPL 2023

Player Final  SR For Vs Venue Date
Brook  100 181.81 SRH v KKR Eden Gardens 14 Apr 2023
V Iyer 104 203.92 KKR v MI Wankhede 16 Apr 2023
Jaiswal 124 200.00 RR v MI Wankhede 30 Apr 2023
Suryakumar 103 210.20 MI GT Wankhede 12 May 2023
Prabhsimran  103 158.46 PBKS DC Delhi 13 May 2023
Gill 101 174.13 GT SRH Ahmedabad 15 May 2023
Klaasen 104 203.92 SRH RCB Hyderabad 18 May 2023
Kohli  100 158.73 RCB SRH Hyderabad 18 May 2023
Green 100 212.76 MI SRH Wankhede 21 May 2023
Kohli 101* 165.57 RCB GT Bengaluru 21 May 2023
Gill 104* 200.00 GT RCB Bengaluru 21 May 2023
via ESPNCricinfo

Four of Kohli’s IPL centuries came in one season, when he amassed an incredible 973 runs in one edition back in 2016. His other century came in the 2019 season.

Earlier this season, Kohli became the first batter to cross the 7,000-run mark in the tournament’s history. The leading run-getter in the history of Indian Premier League, Kohli moved past the 7,000 milestone during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s match against Delhi Capitals. Kohli, perhaps fittingly, reached that landmark in Delhi which is his home ground.

After struggling for most of 2022, Kohli has been in much better touch in the IPL in 2023. He has already scored seven 50-plus innings this season.

For the second time in his career, he has scored multiple centuries in one season IPL. Kohli had said after his ton against SRH, “I was telling the boys the way I am looked at as an IPL player as well. It’s like, ‘You know, he’s fine. This is my sixth IPL hundred and I don’t think I give myself enough credit sometimes because I put myself under so much stress already that I don’t really care about what anyone says on the outside, to be honest.”

Kohli over the years in IPL

YEAR MAT RUNS HS SR 100 50
Career 237 7263 113 130.02 7 50
2023 14 639 101* 139.82 2 6
2022 16 341 73 115.99 0 2
2021 15 405 72* 119.46 0 3
2020 15 466 90* 121.35 0 3
2019 14 464 100 141.46 1 2
2018 14 530 92* 139.10 0 4
2017 10 308 64 122.22 0 4
2016 16 973 113 152.03 4 7
2015 16 505 82* 130.82 0 3
2014 14 359 73 122.10 0 2
2013 16 634 99 138.73 0 6
2012 16 364 73* 111.65 0 2
2011 16 557 71 121.08 0 4
2010 16 307 58 144.81 0 1
2009 16 246 50 112.32 0 1
2008 13 165 38 105.09 0 0

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