Former Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan has praised his Indian teammate Virat Kohli, calling him one of the best players in the world.
Kohli is currently playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2026 and has had success with the bat.
Dhawan retired from all forms of cricket in 2024 and has since turned to punditry. In a recent interview, Dhawan spoke candidly about Kohli’s evolution as a batsman in the last 18 years.
“Virat Kohli is the pillar of Indian cricket” – Shikhar Dhawan
Speaking to RevSportz, Dhawan explained how Kohli has developed himself with time. He was asked about the importance of Virat Kohli as a batsman for the Indian team ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
“He [Kohli] He is a pillar of Indian cricket. It is a sign of a great player how much he is capable of changing himself. Change is the only constant in life, so he knows change is necessary with time, so he brought that change into his game.”
“He is taking a lot of risks and is still performing consistently. And he is fit anyway, he is not fit just like that. He has worked very hard to achieve that fitness. His level of commitment and discipline is very high. Youngsters should learn from him what discipline is and how to maintain it. Virat Kohli exemplifies those things very well. And yes, I am sure he will do brilliantly,” Dhawan said.
Exclusive
“Kohli is the pillar of the Indian team. He is taking more smart risks now, still performing well consistently” – Shikhar Dhawan on Virat Kohli’s development, Rohit Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and his outlook with Da One Sports’ HPC.@CricSubhayan @SDhawan25… pic.twitter.com/vmYjtLMb5N
– RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) 1 May 2026
Virat Kohli in IPL 2026
So far in this tournament, Kohli has emerged as the highest run-scorer for his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. With 379 runs in 9 matches, he is also the fourth highest run-scorer in the tournament.
Kohli has continued the process of breaking records in IPL 2026 also. Earlier in the season, he became the first player in IPL history to score 9,000 runs. However, by a slight margin, Kohli is also at fourth position in IPL 2026.
He has already held the Orange Cap twice this season, but the race is getting more intense. Kohli has scored all his runs at a strike rate above 165 and has shown a new dimension to his game that was not always there.
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Virat Kohli has shown extraordinary consistency even at the age of 37. He was the leading run-scorer for RCB in each of the last three IPL seasons, including 2025 when they won the title.
rcb next match
Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Lucknow Supergiants in their next match on May 7. The game will be held in Lucknow.
RCB have already defeated LSG once in the tournament, playing in Bengaluru. LSG are currently last on the points table and are on a five-match losing streak.
Although the defeat against GT hampered RCB’s playoff race, a week gap between the matches and LSG’s form could work in their favour.