Virat Kohli is hurting India in T20 World Cup 2026

India misses Virat Kohli’s chasing masterclass: The Indian national cricket team has suffered its first defeat in the T20 World Cup after winning 12 consecutive matches. The Men in Blue lost their first game after 17 matches in ICC competitions by 76 runs against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

While chasing the big target of 188 runs, Suryakumar Yadav’s team was out for 111 runs. South Africa got their revenge in the 2024 T20 World Cup final after India defeated the Proteas in Barbados to lift their second title. India has chased 160+ three times in its T20 World Cup history.

T20 World Cup stats show India’s overdependence on Virat Kohli

The record run chase started in 2014 against the same opponent by chasing 173 runs at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka. The other two were against Australia in 2016, and the last was against Pakistan. On all these three occasions, Virat Kohli was chosen player of the match.

This showed why Virat Kohli is the greatest goalscorer and has always performed well under pressure for India. India were at 31/4 while chasing 160 runs against Pakistan during the 2022 T20 World Cup. It was a masterclass from Kohli at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia as he led India to a historic win against their arch-rivals.

Whenever India chased 150+ in the T20 World Cup, one name echoed louder than the rest – Virat Kohli #T20WorldCup #ViratKohli #IndianCricket #insidesport #crickettwitter pic.twitter.com/3evinLSNZS

– InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) 22 February 2026

Kohli has scored fifty-plus three times in these three matches, all of which have been unbeaten innings. In 2014, against the Proteas, it was an innings of 72 runs, then in 2016 against Australia in Nagpur, it was 82*, and against Pakistan too, it was a score of 82*.

Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav have not filled the gap of Virat Kohli.

Firstly, it was Suryakumar Yadav who filled in for Virat Kohli. However, since the South Africa tour, Tilak Verma has been batting at number 3 despite scoring runs in the bilateral series; The pressure of the World Cup has been different.

Scoring runs under pressure requires a lot of accountability. So far, Tilak has failed to fill the void left by Kohli, as Kohli has always taken responsibility at that position and has single-handedly won matches for India in difficult situations.

Virat Kohli T20 World Cup Stats

Kohli holds the record of averaging 67.58 in a victorious T20I run chase in the T20 World Cup. In his five editions of the T20 World Cup, he has been out only once in a run chase in T20Is. The name ‘Chess Master’ in ODIs and T20Is is there for a reason.

From critical situations like 2/3, Kohli has taken India home in the white-ball format of the game. In the 2024 T20 World Cup final, the situation was the same as last night with 34/3 against the same opponents, South Africa. The innings of 76 runs in 59 balls helped India set the target of 176/7 in 20 overs.

Kohli has been a big-match player for the team till the final and he failed to score a single half-century in the competition. This is one reason why he has been India’s ‘troubled’ man in the white-ball format.

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