Following the Under-19 World Cup, Virat Kohli was bought by the franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore for $30,000 on a youth contract in IPL .[323][324][325][326] He was the captain of Royal challengers Bangalore for 8 seasons but could not win a trophy.[327]
Kohli had a poor 2008 season, with a total of 165 runs in 12 innings at an average of 15.00 and a strike rate of 105.09.[328] He did slightly better in the second season in which he made a total of 246 runs at 22.36, striking at over 112, while his team made it as far as the final.[329] In the 2010 season, Kohli was the third highest run-getter for his team with 307 runs, averaging 27.90 and improving his strike rate to 144.81.[330]
Kohli was the second-highest run-getter of the season, only behind teammate Chris Gayle, and his team finished as runners-up. Kohli scored total 557 runs at an average of 46.41 and at the strike rate of over 121 including four fifties.[331] In the 2012 IPL, he averaged 28 and scored 364 runs.[332]
During 2013 season, Kohli averaged 45.28 and hit a total of 634 runs at a strike rate of over 138 including six fifties and a top-score of 99 and finished as the season’s third-highest run-scorer.[333]
In IPL 2014, Kohli scored 359 runs in 14 matches by the batting average of 27.61, his strike rate was 122.10, He scored two 50 in this season and 73 was his best score.[334]
Bangalore finished seventh in the next season in which Kohli made 359 runs at 27.61.[335] He found success with the bat in the 2015 IPL in which he led his team to the playoffs. He finished fifth on the season’s leading run-getters list with 505 runs at an average of 45.90 and a strike rate of more than 130.[336]
At the 2016 IPL, the Royal Challengers finished runners-up and Kohli broke the record for most runs in a season . He scored 973 runs in 16 matches , winning the Orange Cap as well as Most-valuable Player Award . Virat scored four centuries in the tournament, having never scored one in the Twenty20 format before the start . He also became the first player to reach the 4000-run milestone in the IPL.[339] At the launch event of his biography, Driven: The Virat Kohli Story in New Delhi, in October 2016, Kohli announced that RCB would be the IPL franchise that he would permanently play for.[340]
Kohli missed the start of the 2017 season due to a shoulder injury.[341] Moreover, RCB finished the tournament at the bottom of the table, with Kohli scoring most runs for his team . On the occasion of the 10 year anniversary of IPL, he was also named in the all-time Cricinfo IPL XI.[343]
In the 2018 season, Kohli was retained by RCB for a price of ₹170 million (US$2.1 million). This was the highest for any player that year.[344] Kohli scored 530 runs and became the first batsman to score more than 500 runs in 5 different seasons.[345] Moreover, RCB failed to qualify for Playoffs and finished sixth on the points table.[346]
On 28 March 2019, Virat Kohli became the second player to reach 5000 IPL runs after Suresh Raina.[347] In the same season, Kohli surpassed Raina to become leading runs scorer in IPL.[348]
In IPL 2020, he scored 466 runs in 15 games by average of 42.36, his strike rate was 121.35.[349]
On 22 April 2021, against Rajasthan Royals, Kohli became the first ever player to reach 6000 IPL Runs.[350] On 20 September, Royal Challengers Bangalore announced that Kohli would step down as captain following the 2021 IPL season.[351]
In 2022 season, he scored 341 runs in 16 innings with the average of 21.31 and strike rate 115.[352] In the match against Punjab Kings at Brabourne Stadium, he scored his 6500th IPL run.[353] In the last league match of the tournament against Gujarat Titans, Kohli completed 7000 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore.