Ashutosh Sharma vs Virat Kohli - comparing their stats after 12 IPL games

Ashutosh Sharma lit up the stage with his unbelievable match-winning knock for the Delhi Capitals (DC) against the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025. He was brought by Delhi for ₹3.8 crore in the mega-auction ahead of the new season.

Ashutosh repaid the faith of the franchise in the very first game. Delhi were chasing 210 runs for a win and were reduced to 65/5 at one point. Ashutosh stood tall under pressure and slammed an unbeaten 66 off 31 balls, including five fours and as many sixes to ensure they crossed the line with just one wicket to spare.

On the other hand, Virat Kohli, playing his 18th season for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), was retained for ₹21 crore. Kohli also slammed an unbeaten fifty in their first game of the season, as RCB beat defending champions KKR by seven wickets in Kolkata.

Having started well, both players will be expected to carry their form throughout the tournament for their respective teams. That said, let us compare their stats in the IPL after 12 games.

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Comparing the stats of Virat Kohli and Ashutosh Sharma after 12 IPL matches

#1 Most runs

Virat Kohli has scored the most runs in the history of the IPL with 8063 runs from 253 matches. He has played all his games in the league for RCB from 2008, when the tournament first began. Talking of his stats from his first 12 IPL games, he scored 165 runs, and all these games came in the 2008 season.

As for Ashutosh Sharma, he began his IPL career in 2024, playing for the Punjab Kings before moving to Delhi this season. He has played 12 games so far and has scored 255 runs, with 189 of those coming for Punjab last season.

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs
Ashutosh Sharma	12	10	255
Virat Kohli	12	11	165

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#2 Average and Strike Rate

Virat Kohli has an overall average of 38.95 and a strike rate of 132.15 from 253 IPL matches. Looking at his numbers from his first 12 games, Kohli had an average of 16.5 and a strike rate of 105.76.

In comparison, Ashutosh is way ahead of Kohli in his first 12 IPL games in terms of average as well as strike rate. The 26-year-old has an average of 36.42 so far, with a strike rate of 177.08. It shows that he has started off well as compared to Kohli in his initial games in the IPL.

Player	Matches	Average	Strike-rate
Ashutosh Sharma	12	36.42	177.08
Virat Kohli	12	16.5	105.76

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#3 Most 50+ scores

In 253 IPL games, Virat Kohli has scored 56 half-centuries and eight hundreds so far. However, from his first 12 IPL games, Kohli did not have a single fifty plus score as his highest score was 38, which came off 29 balls against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers.

Ashutosh, on the other hand, has two half-centuries in his 12 IPL matches. He scored 61 in 2024 for the Punjab Kings, while his unbeaten 66 this season in the game against the Lucknow Super Giants is his highest individual score in the IPL so far.

Player	Matches	Fifties	Hundreds	Highest score
Ashutosh Sharma	12	2	0	66*
Virat Kohli	12	0	0	38

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Conclusion

Virat Kohli has scored most runs than other batter so far in the history of the IPL. However, looking at the first 12 games, Ashutosh Sharma has had a better start than Kohli in terms of scoring runs, average, strike rate, as well as 50+ scores.

Ashutosh Sharma has shown promise and has played some fine knocks under pressure as well. While he possesses the potential, it will be interesting to see where he goes from here and how he does throughout the season.

He will have a vital role to play down the order and will have to be consistent for the Delhi Capitals to have a successful IPL 2025 season and lift the trophy.