The IPL 2026 season will kick off on March 28, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squaring off against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. India batter and RCB icon Virat Kohli has already begun training ahead of the opening match, leaving fans thrilled as videos of his powerful shots surfaced online. After three consecutive seasons of scoring 600-plus runs, Kohli will once again be central to RCB’s campaign as he continues his pursuit of records and milestones.
Sharing a video on X (formerly Twitter), RCB posted a glimpse of their training camp, where Kohli was seen motivating his teammates and urging them to push harder this season.
“We worked really hard over the last two to three seasons to achieve what we did last year, and it’s only going to get tougher because the other teams are going to come hard at us,” Kohli said.
𝑫𝒂𝒚. 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆.
Head Coach Andy Flower‘s welcome to the new members of the squad, and Virat’s pep talk in the first practice session of #IPL2026 at ನಮ್ಮ Chinnaswamy.
Watch more on @bigbasket_com presents RCB Bold Diaries.#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB pic.twitter.com/ee8mPnIgWb
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 20, 2026
“We don’t waste these days. We stay ahead. So, switch on now. Let’s not waste even a minute of every session we are part of. We must give our 120% for these two and a half months. I can see from everyone’s faces that we are excited enough to be challengers.”
RCB lifted their maiden IPL trophy in 2025, defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in the final in Ahmedabad. Looking ahead to the new season, head coach Andy Flower shared his thoughts on the team’s revamped squad.
“We had an interesting auction. I think we’ve improved our squad, to be quite frank. We brought in some great new additions. Integrating those players into the RCB way, alongside some of the established names led by Virat and Rajat, is an exciting part of building a new team together,” Flower said.
Kohli, who has accumulated 8,661 runs in 267 matches, including eight centuries and 63 fifties, will also be eyeing another major milestone: becoming the first player in IPL history to cross the 9,000-run mark.
(With ANI Inputs)