Smriti Mandhana vs Virat Kohli - Comparing their stats for RCB after 26 matches

Star India World Cup 2025 winner Smriti Mandhana has been retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), ahead of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 auction. As captain, Smriti will continue to lead the side in the upcoming season.

Leading RCB to the WPL title in 2024, Smriti Mandhana became the first captain to win a trophy for the franchise (across WPL and IPL). She has been retained for ₹3.5 crore ahead of the 2026 season. During the inaugural edition in 2023, she was signed by RCB and made captain.

On the other hand, the Men's team ended their trophy drought by lifting the title in IPL 2025. RCB beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the final. Virat Kohli played a key role for them, scoring 657 runs from 15 matches with eight half-centuries. Kohli has been with the franchise since the first season in 2008. He will certainly feature for the defending champions in the 2026 edition as well.

On that note, let us compare the stats of Smriti Mandhana and Virat Kohli for RCB after their first 26 matches (in WPL and IPL, respectively).

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Comparing Smriti Mandhana and Virat Kohli's RCB stats after 26 matches

(It is worth noting that Smriti opened the batting while Kohli batted in the middle and lower middle-order during this phase)

#1 Most Runs

Smriti Mandhana has featured for RCB in the WPL in three editions so far. She has played 26 matches and has scored 646 runs from as many innings. Her best performance came in their title-winning season in 2024, where she scored 300 runs from ten matches.

Virat Kohli, as mentioned above, has been with RCB from the inaugural IPL season in 2008. He has played 267 matches and has amassed 8661 runs with eight hundreds and 63 fifties. In his first 26 matches, he had scored 361 runs from 22 innings.

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs
Smriti Mandhana	26	26	646
Virat Kohli	26	22	361

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#2 Average and Strike Rate

In her 26 WPL matches for RCB, Smriti Mandhana has maintained an average of 24.84. She has scored her runs at a strike-rate of 128.68.

Virat Kohli has maintained an average of 39.54 and a strike-rate of 132.85 throughout his career of 267 matches in the IPL. In his first 26 matches in the league, Kohli had an average of 17.19 and a strike-rate of 105.56.

Player	Matches	Average	Strike Rate
Smriti Mandhana	26	24.84	128.68
Virat Kohli	26	17.19	105.56

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#3 Most 50-plus scores

Smriti Mandhana has scored four half-centuries in her WPL career so far. She does not have a century yet. Her highest score came last season against the Delhi Capitals (DC) when she made 81 off 47 balls with 10 fours and three sixes.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has slammed eight hundreds and 63 half-centuries so far. However, in his first 26 matches, he managed to score just one half-century. He struck a 32-ball 50 against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers.

Player	Matches	50s	100s	Highest score
Smriti Mandhana	26	4	-	81
Virat Kohli	26	1	-	50

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#4 Performance in winning cause

RCB have won 11 out of the 26 WPL matches that Smriti Mandhana has been part of so far. In these wins, she has scored 368 runs at an average of 33.45 and a strike-rate of 135.29. She has scored three half-centuries in these wins.

On the other hand, RCB won 11 out of Virat Kohli's first 26 IPL games. In these wins, he scored 156 runs at an average of 19.50 and a strike-rate of 117.29. He did not have a single 50-plus score in a winning cause in this phase.

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	50-plus scores
Smriti Mandhana	11	11	368	33.45	135.29	3
Virat Kohli	11	8	156	19.5	117.29	-