Ex-England Captain Feels Virat Kohli is Cricket’s Cristiano Ronaldo

Michael Vaughan shared that Virat Kohli, unlike others, chooses not to share every aspect of his fitness and training regimen on social media.

Ex-England Captain Feels Virat Kohli is Cricket’s Cristiano Ronaldo

Michael Vaughan drew parallels between Virat Kohli and Cristiano Ronaldo. (Image via NDTV Sports)

In Short
  • Michael Vaughan compares Virat Kohli to Cristiano Ronaldo, citing their exceptional fitness levels as they age.
  • Kohli scored 58 runs in IPL 2026, marking his sixth 50+ score and helping RCB secure a playoff spot.
  • He became the first player to score over 500 runs in nine IPL seasons, breaking multiple records during the campaign.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan drew an interesting parallel recently between Virat Kohli and Cristiano Ronaldo. He specifically cited their shared ability to maintain high levels of fitness as they age, and dubbed Kohli as the ‘cricket equivalent’ of the footballer.

Virat Kohli has been unstoppable for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026 as well, where in the latest game he registered his sixth 50+ score of the campaign, an impressive 58 runs off 37 balls against Punjab Kings. His knock, which included four boundaries and three maximums, helped the reigning champions post 222/4 in their first innings, enough for them to win by 23 runs and become the first team to secure a play-offs spot. 

Much of his success could be credited to the fitness level that he maintains, given that the right-hander is one of the fastest runners between the wickets and is also among the most athletic fielders. Kohli’s intense training regimen, which also includes his work ethic outside the cricket pitch as well as his disciplined habits, has contributed to this elite level of fitness, something that many former players speak highly of regularly.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, former England captain Michael Vaughan suggested that Kohli’s fitness and work ethic, is very similar to that of football great and a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo. He drew parallels between the two on the basis of their professionalism, both on and off the field. The Englishman highlighted Ronaldo’s enduring fitness despite turning 41 and called Kohli his equivalent from cricket.

You look at Cristiano Ronaldo, you look at the way that he looks after his body. I think Virat [Kohli] is the cricket equivalent of Cristiano.

Michael Vaughan said

The 51-year-old guessed what Virat Kohli does to keep himself fit, including ice baths and cryo-therapy, noting that it mirrors Ronaldo’s legendary regimen. He further added that the RCB star still has many years of cricket left in him at the top-most level. It is well known that Kohli is an avid fan of the Portuguese footballer, with the ex-India skipper mentioning couple of times of his admiration of Ronaldo’s hard-earned path to greatness. 

I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen it because I don’t think Virat [Kohli] puts it on socials, but I can imagine every morning, he’s probably in an ice bath, he’s probably in a cryo-chamber.. So that’s going to give him at least two or three more years.

Kohli will next be seen in action when RCB faces off against SRH in its last league stage fixture of the season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on May 22. It will be followed by the IPL play-offs, which is scheduled to begin on May 26. 

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Virat Kohli rewrites history in Dharamshala with an impressive fifty against PBKS

Every match Virat Kohli plays in the IPL, he breaks records, something he did during RCB’s clash against PBKS on Sunday at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. Kohli scored a composed 58 runs off 37 balls, which helped his team secure a comfortable 23-run victory in the end. 

Virat Kohli records
Virat Kohli has shattered past numerous records in IPL 2026. (Image via News 18)

With the fifty against PBKS, Kohli became one of the few players to go past the 500-run milestone in the ongoing IPL season. It also made him the first player in the history of the tournament to score over 500 runs in nine different editions, which is way ahead of the likes of David Warner (7 seasons) and KL Rahul (8 seasons). He is still in the race to secure the Orange Cap, which could make him a record three-time winner. 

Virat Kohli also broke his own record for the highest aggregate runs scored against a specific opposition in the IPL. He has now scored 1,217 runs against PBKS. During the match, the 37-year-old also stitched together a crucial 76-run second-wicket partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, making it the 210th time in his career that he was involved in a 50+ runs partnership in T20 cricket, which is the joint-highest. 

Kohli is tied with former England opener Alex Hales, who has also recorded 210 such partnerships. He also became the first batter to score over 5,500 runs in the IPL as an opener for a single IPL franchise, going past Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. 

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