Follow UsIndia’s veteran Test batter Cheteshwar Pujara was in awe of modern-day great Virat Kohli after his team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) went on to lift their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, winning the 2025 season, by beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the final held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on June 3 (Tuesday).
Pujara was particular about mentioning Kohli’s strike rate, which has been the talk of the town for the last 2–3 seasons, ever since the opening batters in the league started to bat at a strike rate of more than 140 from the start.
“The good part about Virat is that he is one of the fittest cricketers, and he is open to adapting to a new challenge or something different,” Pujara was quoted as saying on Star Sport in a show discussing RCB’s win.
“People have criticised him in the past for not batting at a strike rate of 140-150. Now, if you look at his batting this season, he has answered that question. He has batted at a strike rate of 140-150 and above. So he has evolved as a batter,” he added.
However, Kohli played with a strike rate below 130 in the final, although his overall strike rate in the 2025 season was 144.31 as he scored 657 runs with eight fifties in 15 innings.
Saying that striking at a high rate ‘doesn’t come naturally’ to Kohli, Pujara rated the former RCB and India captain’s work ethics as one of the best in the world.
“You need to work on it, and even to work on it at this age, when he is 36 and has played the game for such a long time, if you are still willing to learn and make a difference to the team, that shows how big a player he is,” he said.