Virat Kohli showed great signs of entering a purple patch in the IPL 2025 as he scored a 42-ball 67 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Mumbai Indians recently. In the first match of the IPL 2025, Kohli scored 59* followed by 31 against Chennai Super kings and 7 against Gujarat Titans. Kohli, whose jersey number is 18, is playing his 18th IPL. In fact, he is the only player to have played in all editions of the IPL for just one team. 

In a Virat Kohli special on Jio Hotstar, ’18 Calling 18, the star mentioned a sledging incident involving his long-time India and Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma. Recalling a match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata chasing 223, Kohli said he was intimidated with the way Ishant was bowling. 

“The interesting thing, which I’ve never spoken about, is that Ishant and I played all our cricket together, so I have faced him a lot. But in that game, I felt he was bowling at a different level, and that was the pressure. That is what environment means. Had I faced him in the nets, I wouldn’t have been intimidated, but that day, I felt like I couldn’t hit any of his deliveries, and that was because of the atmosphere and the pressure,” he said.

The RCB star added that Ishant, who was major hit at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series then in Australia, was sledging him. The then youngster had dismissed Ricky Ponting in Perth and was an India star. However, Kohli’s answer was ready. 

“We were staying in different hotels, so there was no conversation about the game. But yes, he was sledging a lot. I mean, seriously…he just came back from Australia, had that new hairstyle, so he had that star attitude. I said, ‘side mein aa mein tereko batata hu‘. But all fun and games,” he said.

RCB ultimately lost the match.

Kohli has said that shedding ego and adapting to the demands of match situations has been at the heart of his successful journey in the shortest format of the game.

Kohli, who recently became the first Indian to breach the 13,000-run mark in T20 cricket, shared insights into his approach and growth over the years.

“It’s never about ego. It was never about trying to overshadow anyone,” said the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star to JioHotstar. “It’s always been about understanding the game situation — and that’s something I’ve always taken pride in. I want to play according to what the situation demands.”

The 36-year-old stalwart remains the highest run-scorer in Indian Premier League (IPL) history with 8168 runs from 256 matches, including eight centuries — the most by any player in the tournament. Kohli emphasized that his ability to step up or step back depending on his teammates’ momentum was crucial in his evolution.

“If I was in rhythm, in the flow of the game, I naturally took the initiative. If someone else was better placed to take the lead, they would do it,” he added.

Kohli traced the turning point of his IPL journey back to 2010 and 2011, when he began getting consistent opportunities at the top of the order. “In my first three years with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, I didn’t get many opportunities to bat in the top order. I was usually sent lower down. So, I wasn’t really able to crack the IPL in a big way. But from 2010 onwards, I started performing more consistently, and by 2011, I was regularly batting at number three. That’s when my IPL journey really began to take shape,” he recalled.

With ANI inputs