Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) veteran Virat Kohli has picked his all-time RCB XI. Kohli has played for RCB throughout his career, since the league’s inception in 2008.
He is currently the all-time highest run-getter, with 8661 runs from 259 innings at a strike-rate of 132.85. RCB, the defending champions, uploaded a video on Monday in which Virat Kohli listed his all-time RCB XI.
The video, though, was recorded ahead of the IPL 2025 season, when the Rajat Patidar-led side clinched their maiden title.
Virat Kohli picks his all-time RCB XI
Virat Kohli picked himself along with Chris Gayle to open the innings, with South African legend AB de Villiers batting at No.3. The trio of Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers have played several match-winning knocks together, but they haven’t been able to win an IPL title together while being on the same side.
The Delhi cricketer picked KL Rahul as the No.4 batter, with current RCB skipper Rajat Patidar batting at No.5. KL Rahul made his IPL debut with RCB in 2013, and went on to play for them again in 2016, the year when RCB lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final.
Patidar, on the other hand, has been a permanent figure for the defending champions since making his IPL debut in 2021.
Among bowlers, Kohli picked Mitchell Starc, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel in his all-time RCB XI.
“I would say Gayle and myself to open AB at three. Okay, let me get the four overseas out of the way. AB, Chris, and Mitchell Starc, because he played for us. The 4th overseas player for me would be, I think, Dale (Steyn), because I would like the bowling to be even stronger in that XI,” he said in the video.
“So yeah, you got two seamers; you got Chris, myself and AB. At four, I would have KL (Rahul). He had an amazing season, I think, batting at four for us.
Five, I would say, give five to Rajat (Patidar), maybe, because he plays spin amazingly well and he’s one of the best Indian talents that we’ve had. Six would be Dinesh (Karthik), for sure, and Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) at 11 for his batting ability,” added the 37-year-old.
“Now I’ve got seven and eight left, right? Anil Bhai (Kumble) at eight – wow, that would be an unbelievable 11. Okay, I’ll go with Harshal (Patel), with his little bit of batting ability as well. And he fits in as the perfect third seamer; he’s been bowling in different phases,” stated Kohli.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will begin their IPL 2026 title defense with a home match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Bengaluru. RCB had beaten Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in Ahmedabad to clinch their maiden IPL title on 3 June, 2025, thus ending their 18-year trophy drought.
RCB will begin IPL 2026 as one of the favourites, but defending the title will be far from easy.
Virat Kohli’s all-time RCB XI: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Anil Kumble, Mitchell Starc, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra
