Virat Kohli has struggled a bit against spin in IPL 2026.
Virat Kohli has been unstoppable against pace in IPL, which has been the case for a while. Since last season, Kohli has had a strike rate of 162.05 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 4.10 against fast bowlers. However, spin has managed to contain them, particularly this season.
He has always been more proficient against pace, but found ways to be productive against slow bowlers during his resurgence. But recent patterns show Virat Kohli finding it tricky again to power spin. This season, he has struck at just 127.08 and played around 29.17% dot balls; last season, they were 132.02 and 23.65% against spinners.
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Virat Kohli’s sample size against spin remains low in IPL 2026, with only 48 balls in total. Still, early trends suggest he has struggled to get enough runs from the front foot or by coming down the track this season, based on a small sample of 25 deliveries. He has struck at just 128 on such balls and played 28% dot balls.
Last season, he struck at 157.77 and kept dot balls to just 22.22%. Again, with a small sample size, Virat Kohli seems to be playing those 4-6 meter lengths more from the front foot this time. Of 23 spin deliveries in these areas, he has played on the front foot or come down the track 65.21% of the time and struck at 120 in IPL 2026.
Last season, he played only 50.43% balls on the front foot or came down the track, striking at 153.44, on 4-6 meter lengths. His average interception point against spin has been 0.85 m in front of the crease, roughly around 0.18 meters ahead of last season. Maybe he has looked to attack a lot more by coming on top of the ball and smothering any spin off the deck to maintain high intent.
However, Kohli might be overtrying it, as the early patterns show, which haven’t really worked. The opponent spinners, particularly finger spin, have managed to contain him with wider lines. That he has faced among some of the quality tweakers has further made things trickier for him.
Again, it’s still a small sample size, but left-arm spin seems to have troubled Virat Kohli more. He has struck at 108 against them and played around 36% dot balls; last season, both were better at 122.54 and 29.58%, respectively. For instance, Mitchell Santner employed wider lines and forced Virat Kohli to play square of the wicket with a horizontal bat at the Wankhede Stadium.
Manav Suthar has a small sample size, but has turned the ball vehemently at pace this season. He has an average turn of 2.92° in IPL 2026. He can be used in the powerplay to counter Kohli early on, should pacers not get wickets in the initial few overs.
Phil Salt has been powerful against spin, but how he goes against the turning ball remains to be seen. Even if Kohli survives the powerplay, and GT don’t bring him with the new ball, Suthar can come into the attack immediately after the field restrictions. But he has done exceedingly well against pace and can be a slow starter vs spin.
Since 2025, the RCB batter has a strike rate of 110.73 and takes around 9.50 balls for every boundary in the first 10 balls against slow bowlers. Suthar has been mighty impressive against RHBs, with five wickets at 12.80 runs apiece and an economy rate of 5.57 since 2025. There’s no reason not to use him in the powerplay to counter Virat Kohli.
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