Virat Kohli Storm Warning Issued For IPL 2026

Virat Kohli in action for RCB [Source: @IPL/x]

Virat Kohli is set to make his return to competitive cricket after a gap of over two months through the upcoming IPL 2026 season. Unlike previous seasons, the legendary Indian batter will enter IPL 2026 for the first time as a ‘defending champion’ for the RCB franchise.

On a trail of some prolific scores against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and in domestic cricket for Delhi; Kohli is due for an extravagant IPL season this time around, believes former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif. The cricket expert also believes that the extended break will benefit the RCB legend and he will not be accepting any complacency even from his teammates going ahead.

Mohammad Kaif says break will benefit Virat Kohli

For the first time in his IPL career, Virat Kohli will enter a season as only a one-format player for Team India. After having announced his retirements from Tests and T20Is well over a year ago, the cricketer is now prone to longer breaks between action.

While Irfan Pathan claimed that Kohli might have to face some difficulties in IPL 2026 owing to his two-month break, fellow former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif is of the opinion that the break will actually benefit the RCB legend. Kaif added that making a switch between formats and breaks is very normal for the legendary Indian batter, since he has already been doing it for years for the national team.

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Speaking on his YouTube channel, Mohammad Kaif said “It will not make a difference. In fact, it will benefit him as he is coming from a break with a fresh mind. Making that switch is normal for him as he has been doing it for years even for India. I would say it would be difficult if it was some other batter. Look at the IPL before he took T20I retirement, he scored there. He won the MOM in the final then. There are very few players who can adjust that switch.”

As quoted by the Indian Express, the former Indian batter added that Virat Kohli is playing even more aggressively in white-ball cricket these days, especially after announcing his Test retirement in mid-2025.

He said “This period, specially Test retirement, has not been easy for him. He is even playing aggressively in white-ball now, the strike-rate is there. He has improved his game and now he has fixed his mind that till he plays, he will make it known to his critics that he is Virat Kohli.”

Virat Kohli will not accept any complacency, believes Kaif

Mohammad Kaif also added that even though the RCB franchise will start out as defending champions in IPL 2026, Virat Kohli will probably “start from zero” and will not be accepting any form of complacency from any of his teammates.

He believes that Kohli will be keeping “everyone on their toes” and will be accepting nothing less than another trophy at this stage of his career.

He said “Virat Kohli will not accept any complacency. They will not take it lightly, having won the title. Kohli always starts from zero. I am not talking about Patidar here. If Kohli sees that someone is not putting that effort or that energy is not there, he will be the first one to call people and tell them we are here to win. Till you have a player like him, no one can take the nets or matches lightly. He will take nothing less than a trophy now. In terms of commitment, he is going to keep everyone on their toes. He will come in with a lot of hunger and the will to make winning a habit now.”

Kohli to return to the field after New Zealand, South Africa success

Virat Kohli recently plundered 240 runs in three ODI innings against New Zealand back in January at a prolific average of 80. He also punched out a sizzling 131 and another 77, both for Delhi during the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy season.

During India’s preceding home ODI series against South Africa, Kohli racked up over 300 runs at an average of 151 in just three innings with two huge hundreds. 

Overall, in his last nine innings in competitive cricket, the 37-year-old has belted eight scores of 50 or more and managed to convert four of those into centuries.

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