WATCH | Virat Kohli Returns to Bengaluru For RCB's Title Defense in IPL 2026

IPL 2026: Virat Kohli is back in Bengaluru. He reached Bengaluru on Wednesday morning. The former RCB captain is back in the city for another season of the IPL. There was a lot of crowd outside the airport just to get a glimpse of him. Kohli was surrounded by security just to ensure that there is no chaos. 

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Kohli is a key member of the squad and would be expected to do well this year as well. Last season, Kohli amassed 657 runs at a blistering strike rate of 144.71 and an average of 54.75, with eight half-centuries to his name. There is little to no doubt that RCB would be one of the hot contenders for the title, having won it last year. Kohli would be back at the M. Chinnaswamy. The iconic venue is set to host the season opener in which the defending champions take on Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

RCB are a strong unit as they successfully managed to hold on to their core in the mega auction last year. As per reports, they would be missing the services of Australia's Josh Hazlewood for the first part of the tournament. 

RCB full schedule for IPL 2026

(Phase 1 Schedule)

March 28: RCB vs SRH (Bengaluru) – 3:30 PM

April 5: RCB vs CSK (Bengaluru) – 7:30 PM

April 10: Rajasthan Royals vs RCB (Guwahati) – 7:30 PM IST

April 12: Mumbai Indians vs RCB (Mumbai) -7:30 PM

RCB full squad for IPL 2026

Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Jitesh Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Swapnil Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Otswal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan.