Most IPL Matches: Virat Kohli created history in the Indian Premier League and made the record of playing the most number of matches in the tournament. With this he left behind legends like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. The 57th match of IPL 2026 was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Raipur. Through this match, Kohli got his name written on the record of playing most matches.
Kohli became the first player to play the 279th match in the 19-year-old IPL history. Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni are at second place in the list with 278-278 matches. Along with this, Kohli is also the highest run-scorer batsman in IPL. Virat is one of the few players who have been playing in IPL since the first season i.e. 2008. Kohli has played for RCB since the first season. There have been very few players in the history of the tournament who played their entire career for the same team.
10 batsmen who played most matches in IPL
Virat Kohli- 279 matches
MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma- 278 matches
Ravindra Jadeja- 265 matches
Dinesh Karthik- 257 matches
Shikhar Dhawan- 222 matches
Ravichandran Ashwin- 221 matches
Ajinkya Rahane- 209 matches
Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa – 205 matches
Ambati Rayudu- 204 matches
Bhuvneshwar Kumar- 202 matches
10 batsmen who scored the most runs in IPL
Virat Kohli- 9070 runs
Rohit Sharma- 7289 runs
Shikhar Dhawan- 6769 runs
David Warner- 6565
KL Rahul- 5699
Suresh Raina- 5528 runs
MS Dhoni- 5439 runs
Ajinkya Rahane- 5269 runs
AB de Villiers- 5162 runs
Sanju Samson- 5134 runs
Virat Kohli’s IPL career
Talking about Kohli’s IPL career, till now he has played 279 matches. Batting in 271 innings of these matches, he has scored 9070 runs at an average of 39.78 and strike rate of 134.07. During this period, he has scored 8 centuries and 66 half-centuries. His high score was 113* runs. More than 800 fours and 300 sixes have been hit from Kohli’s bat.
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