Virat Kohli has scored 1,159 runs against Punjab Kings, more than any batter has managed against the franchise. This page puts Kohli's record against Punjab next to his own career baseline, walks through the knocks that built it, and answers the one question the raw number hides: does he actually own them, or has he simply outlasted them?
Quick Answer - Kohli vs PBKS
Kohli has 1,159 runs in 36 innings against Punjab Kings at an average of 36.21 and a strike rate of 132.60, the most by any batter against this franchise, ahead of David Warner's 1,134. That average sits below his career mark of 39.90, which tells you this is a record built on volume, not the demolition the headline tally suggests.
हिन्दी: यह रिकॉर्ड दबदबे से ज़्यादा टिकाऊपन की कहानी है। वॉर्नर ने सिर्फ़ 26 पारियों में 1,134 रन बनाए, जबकि कोहली को 1,159 तक पहुँचने में 36 पारियाँ लगीं।
Matchup figures verified via ESPNcricinfo and the official IPL site, updated 24 July 2026.
Kohli vs PBKS: The Record in Context
Against Punjab, Kohli scores less freely than his career suggests. The gap is not huge, but it is real, and the table below is where it shows.
| Metric | vs PBKS | Career overall |
|---|---|---|
| Innings | 36 | 275 |
| Runs | 1,159 | 9,336 |
| Average | 36.21 | 39.90 |
| Strike rate | 132.60 | 134 |
| 100s / 50s | 1 / 6 | 9 / 68 |
| Highest score | 113 (off 50) | 113* (off 72, vs RR 2024) |
The Record Explained
The 1,159 is the most any batter has put up against Punjab, and it is one of only three opponents Kohli has crossed 1,100 runs against. But it is not his favourite matchup on paper. His tallies against Chennai (1,174) and Delhi (1,172) are both marginally higher, and his strike rate and average against Punjab both sit a fraction under his career figures. This is his third-biggest single-team pile, not a happy hunting ground he has plundered.
The honest number is the 36.21 average. Over 19 seasons a batter runs into every kind of day against the same opponent, and Kohli has had his share of quiet ones here, including a first-ball edge or two and a run of low scores in the middle years. What lifts the record is the one thing PBKS could never take away: he kept turning up, season after season, adding fifties in ones and twos until the total no rival could match had quietly stacked up.
Best Knocks Against PBKS
The defining one is easy. In IPL 2016, in a rain-cut 15-over game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kohli made 113 off 50 balls against Kings XI Punjab, reaching his hundred in just 47 deliveries with 12 fours and eight sixes. He batted through a stitched-up left hand from a training injury, RCB ran up 211, and it remains the fastest IPL hundred of his career. In the season he finished with a record 973 runs, that knock was the campaign in miniature: control at the start, carnage once set.
The most important knock came nine years later and looked nothing like it. In the IPL 2025 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Kohli made a composed 43 as RCB posted 190 for 9 and held Punjab to 184 for 7 to win by six runs, sealing the franchise's first title in 18 seasons. It was against Punjab that the long wait finally ended. His three-figure demolition and his most meaningful cameo were both delivered to the same opponent, at opposite ends of his career.
Does Kohli Own PBKS?
Not quite, and the distinction matters. He leads every batter in history for runs against Punjab, and this is the only one of his top opponents against whom he holds a century. That is genuine. But ownership implies a batter bends an attack to his will, and Kohli's numbers here read as steady accumulation instead. Warner made his 1,134 in 26 innings at 49.30 and a strike rate of 144, taking Punjab apart in bursts; Kohli needed 36 innings and averaged 36.21, grinding them down over the better part of two decades. If you want the batter who truly dominated Punjab per innings, it is Warner. If you want the one who scored the most, and outlasted everyone, it is Kohli. His even bigger record against Chennai tells the same story: relentless, not ruthless.
The "most runs against Punjab" line reads better than the record actually is. The number that defines Kohli is not this one, it is the 9,336 that makes him the all-time leading run-scorer in IPL history, and the PBKS split is a fair sample of how he got there: not the highest peak, just the most relentless stacking of runs. Before a Punjab fixture, I would not be telling anyone he owns them. I would be pointing at the 36.21, admitting it is his least commanding of the big three, and then noting that he still has more runs against them than any human alive. Longevity is its own kind of dominance, and nobody has done it longer.
FAQ: Kohli vs PBKS
How many runs does Virat Kohli have against Punjab Kings in IPL?
Kohli has 1,159 runs against Punjab Kings in 36 innings at an average of 36.21 and a strike rate of 132.60. That is the most by any batter against the franchise, ahead of David Warner's 1,134, and includes one century and six fifties.
Why is Kohli's average against PBKS lower than his career average?
His 36.21 average against Punjab sits below his career mark of 39.90 because the record spans 19 seasons and every kind of day, including lean patches in the middle years and spells from bowlers like Kagiso Rabada in his Punjab stint. The tally is built on volume and consistency rather than domination.
What is Kohli's highest score against Punjab Kings?
His best against Punjab is 113 off 50 balls, made in IPL 2016 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in a rain-cut 15-over game. He reached the hundred in 47 balls with 12 fours and eight sixes, and it remains the fastest IPL century of his career.
Who has scored more against PBKS, Kohli or Warner?
Kohli has more in total with 1,159 runs to Warner's 1,134. But Warner was far more dominant per innings, making his runs in just 26 innings at an average of 49.30, against Kohli's 36 innings at 36.21. Kohli holds the volume record, Warner the efficiency.
Does Virat Kohli dominate Punjab Kings?
He leads all batters for runs against Punjab and holds his only century among his top opponents against them, but his average is below his career figure and his tallies against Chennai and Delhi are both slightly higher. It reads as steady accumulation over 19 seasons rather than outright ownership.
Kohli's 1,159 runs against Punjab Kings is the most any batter has scored against the franchise, a record of longevity more than mastery. The 36.21 average is the honest figure, lower than his career mark and lower than Warner's ferocious 49.30 in half the innings. What makes it worth bookmarking is the bookends: a 113 off 50 through a stitched hand in 2016, and a calm 43 in the 2025 final that finally won RCB the title, both delivered to the same opponent.
