Virat Kohli vs Rachin Ravindra - Comparing their stats after 11 IPL games
Virat Kohli and Rachin Ravindra will be in the spotlight when the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday, March 28, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Both batters displayed good form in their respective opening games of the season.
RCB played the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their first game, where they were set a target of 175. Virat Kohli led the chase with an unbeaten 59 off 36 balls, hitting four boundaries and three sixes at a strike-rate of 163.89 to guide them over the line with seven wickets to spare.
In CSK's opening game against the Mumbai Indians (MI), Rachin Ravindra played a key role as they were chasing 156 for a win. Ravindra slammed an unbeaten 65 off 45 balls, including two fours and four sixes, as CSK won the game by four wickets.
Both teams would want their openers to carry the form into this highly anticipated contest in Chennai. Ahead of the same, here is a comparison of their stats in the IPL after their first 11 games.
Comparing the stats of Virat Kohli and Rachin Ravindra after 11 IPL matches
#1 Most runs
Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in the history of the IPL. He has amassed 8063 runs from 253 matches in his career so far. Kohli has played for RCB since the inception of the league in 2008. In his first 11 games, all of which came in the 2008 season, the right-hander scored 156 runs.
On the other hand, Rachin Ravindra has made a promising start to his IPL career. He made his debut last season, playing for CSK, and continues to be with the team this year. Rachin has played 11 matches so far and has scored 287 runs.
#2 Average and Strike Rate
Virat Kohli averages 38.95 in his overall IPL career of 253 matches. He has maintained an overall strike-rate of 132.15. However, looking at his first 11 matches alone, Kohli had an average of 17.33 and a strike-rate of 96.89.
In this comparison, Rachin Ravindra is way ahead of Kohli in his first 11 IPL matches. The left-hander has an average of 28.70 while his strike-rate of 156.83 has also been impressive. The 25-year-old has had a better start than Kohli in his first 11 IPL matches based on these numbers, beating him in both average and strike-rate.
#3 Most 50+ scores
Virat Kohli has notched up 56 half-centuries and eight hundreds from his 253 IPL matches so far. However, the star batter failed to score a single half-century in his first 11 matches in the league. He had a top score of 38(29), which came against the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers in Bengaluru.
On the other hand, Rachin Ravindra has two half-centuries to his name in his first 11 IPL games. His highest score of an unbeaten 65 came this season against the Mumbai Indians in CSK's opening game in Chennai. He had scored a half-century in the last season as well.
Conclusion
While Virat Kohli is among the best batters in the IPL with the most runs in the history of the league, Rachin Ravindra has shown brilliance at the start of his IPL career. Comparing their numbers from the first 11 games, the CSK batter has had a better start than Kohli in terms of runs scored, average, strike-rate, and even fifty-plus scores.
On March 23, Ravindra showcased his ability to play the long innings and remain unbeaten as he anchored the run-chase against the Mumbai Indians, a trait similar to that of Virat Kohli.
Rachin Ravindra has been in solid form from the 2025 Champions Trophy, and given the way he started against Mumbai, CSK will hope for a big season from the left-hander this year.