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With 59 runs to his name, batting superstar Virat Kohli is leading the Orange Cap in IPL 2025. He is followed by KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane and RCB opener Phil Salt.
Virat Kohli is leading the Orange Cap race in IPL 2025. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
Batting superstar Virat Kohli top-scored for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first match of IPL 2025 on Saturday, March 22, which was played against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The 36-year-old right-handed batter opened the innings for RCB with Phil Salt and scored 59 runs from 36 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes. He added 95 runs for the first wicket with Phil Salt (56) and remained unbeaten till the end to take RCB through.
Thanks to Kohli’s 59-run knock in the first match of IPL 2025, RCB chased down the target of 175 runs against the defending champions in 16.2 overs for the loss of just three wickets.
In the season’s opener of IPL 2025, apart from Kohli, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane and RCB opener Salt also scored half-centuries. Rahane hammered 56 runs from 31 balls in the first half of the KKR-RCB match, and in the 175-run chase, Salt smacked 56 runs from 31 balls.
Here’s a look at top-10 leading run scorers in IPL 2025 after KKR-RCB match:
| POSITION | PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | RUNS |
| 1. | Virat Kohli | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 1 | 59 |
| 2. | Ajinkya Rahane | Kolkata Knight Riders | 1 | 56 |
| 3. | Phil Salt | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 1 | 56 |
| 4. | Sunil Narine | Kolkata Knight Riders | 1 | 44 |
| 5. | Rajat Patidar | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 1 | 34 |
| 6. | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Kolkata Knight Riders | 1 | 30 |
| 7. | Liam Livingstone | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 1 | 15 |
| 8. | Rinku Singh | Kolkata Knight Riders | 1 | 12 |
| 9.. | Devdutt Padikkal | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 1 | 10 |
| 10. | Venkatesh Iyer | Kolkata Knight Riders | 1 | 6 |
Kohli creates history
The first match of IPL 2025 between KKR and RCB on Saturday was Kohli’s 400th T20 match, and in that he also broke multiple batting milestones. By crossing the 38-run mark against KKR on Saturday, Kohli completed 1000 runs in the IPL against the Kolkata-based franchise. He is the third player after David Warner (1093) and Rohit Sharma (1070) to score at least 1000 runs against the three-time IPL champions.
Kohli, who is the all-time leading run scorer in IPL history, is the first player in IPL history to score 1000 runs in the IPL against four different teams. Kohli, apart from scoring 1021 runs in 35 IPL matches against KKR, has amassed a total of 1057 runs against Delhi Capitals, 1053 runs against Chennai Super Kings and 1030 runs against Punjab Kings.