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Whenever Royal Challengers Bengaluru are chasing big totals in IPL 2026, one pattern keeps repeating itself. Virat Kohli settles the innings down, Devdutt Padikkal blows the pressure away, and suddenly what looked like a tense chase starts looking ridiculously comfortable.
RCB vs KKR: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
Kolkata Knight Riders became the latest team to experience that reality in Raipur on Wednesday night. On a pitch that was far slower than the scorecard eventually suggested, Kohli and Padikkal once again slipped into their now-familiar chase rhythm during RCB’s six-wicket win over KKR. Their 92-run partnership for the second wicket completely shifted the momentum of the match and helped Bengaluru chase down 193 with five balls remaining.
And the scary part for the rest of the league is that this is no longer becoming a one-off story. Three of the top four match-winning partnerships in successful IPL 2026 chases now belong to the Kohli-Padikkal combination.
Against the Gujarat Titans earlier this season, the pair smashed a 115-run stand in just 9.5 overs while chasing 206, scoring at a run rate of 11.69. RCB won that game with seven balls to spare.
Before that, in the season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kohli and Padikkal added 101 runs in only 7.3 overs during a chase of 202, scoring at a stunning run rate of 13.46 as RCB cruised home with 26 balls left.
Raipur was slightly different though. This was not a flat batting track where strokeplay came naturally from ball one. The pitch stayed tacky and low for large parts of the innings, forcing both batters to initially respect the conditions before properly accelerating.
That is exactly where this partnership seems to work best for RCB. Kohli controls the emotional temperature of the chase while Padikkal quietly removes the scoreboard pressure.
HOW PADIKKAL KEEPS FREEING UP VIRAT KOHLI
For about two overs, KKR genuinely looked like they had found an opening in the chase. Kohli had only just returned from a run of back-to-back ducks, and KKR still had enough scoreboard pressure to make things uncomfortable.
KKR knew exactly what they were trying to do. The moment Kartik Tyagi removed Bethell with the short ball, KKR sensed a chance to squeeze the innings.
Then Padikkal walked in and changed the mood almost immediately. Anything drifting onto the pads disappeared, anything too wide got punished, and suddenly the bowlers were reacting instead of attacking.
That allowed Kohli to settle back into his favourite chase rhythm. And this is exactly why the Kohli-Padikkal partnership has become so dangerous in IPL 2026. While Kohli controls the chase through strike rotation and relentless running, Padikkal removes the scoreboard pressure before it can properly build.
KKR simply never got their pressure overs. By the time Padikkal departed for a fluent 39, the game already felt firmly in RCB’s control. Kohli was set and the asking rate was beyond comfortable.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 105 off 60 balls, bringing up his century in the penultimate over and also becoming the fastest batter to 14,000 T20 runs.
Padikkal admitted after the game that batting alongside Kohli during chases almost feels like watching a masterclass unfold from the other end.
“Yeah, like I have said many times, it’s incredible to bat alongside him,” Padikkal said.
“He does this so often. If you wake him up any time of the day, he’s going to come and do that in a run chase.”
The left-hander also laughed off suggestions that Kohli would have felt pressure after entering the match with consecutive ducks.
“I don’t think so because like at this point, I don’t think he needs to be nervous,” Padikkal said.
“He’s done this so many times. He’s scored so many runs. You saw he got his 14,000th run today.”
VIRAT KOHLI TURNS PRESSURE INTO FUEL AGAIN
Kohli himself admitted after the match that the brief lean patch actually sharpened his intensity again.
“Well, there’s a reason why people say pressure is a privilege,” Kohli said after winning the Player of the Match award.
“It actually keeps you humble, keeps you focused, makes you work hard at practice again.”
Kohli revealed that the two failures pushed him back into training harder and rediscovered the nervous energy that often drives his best innings.
“When you’re playing well, you can tend to taper off a little bit with your intensity and focus,” Kohli said.
“But I think a couple of games that don’t go your way, you start feeling a bit of nervousness again. It helps you to go out there and work on your game.”
That nervousness certainly did not last long in Raipur.
After surviving an early drop from Rovman Powell on 21, Kohli slowly took complete control of the innings while Padikkal ensured KKR never got breathing space in the middle overs.
And together, they once again showed why this has quietly become one of the most dangerous chase combinations of IPL 2026.
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