Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has noted that Virat Kohli tends to slow down despite getting settled at the crease amid the ongoing IPL 2026. Kohli raced to 40 runs off the first 20 balls against Lucknow Super Giants at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru in the run-chase of 147.

However, on the next 14 deliveries, he managed only nine runs. The veteran RCB batter ended his innings with a strike rate of 144.12. Meanwhile, Kohli had scored 50 runs off 38 balls against Mumbai Indians in the last game.

Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “In the last two matches it looked like after getting set, Virat Kohli has been slowing down a bit. Maybe he is not feeling well due to his fitness. Perhaps an injury is troubling him, which is also why he is not fielding. If we look at this match as well, he reached 40 runs in 20 balls, but in the next 14 balls he scored only nine runs. That means 49 runs from 34 balls. For the first time, he missed a fifty in this season of the league.”

Kohli is currently the Orange Cap holder as he has scored 228 runs in five matches at an average of 57 and a strike rate of 158.33.

Pathan added, “When it comes to batting, Virat Kohli and the Orange Cap go hand in hand. It is hard to imagine Virat Kohli without the Orange Cap. I had said this before the season that you cannot ignore his name. His name has to be taken because the cap fits him so well.”

Meanwhile, the former swing bowler praised RCB for their impressive performance in the ongoing IPL 2026.

He concluded, “Bengaluru has reached the top of the points table where it rightly belongs. They are playing excellent cricket. The defending champions are playing the kind of cricket they are expected to play. Now it seems that all five bowlers in their bowling attack are in form.”

Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Delhi Capitals at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.