Will Virat Kohli captain RCB in IPL 2026?: Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is scheduled to start from March 28 and run till May 31, 2026. However, before the IPL, big news has emerged from the camp of defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) regarding a possible change of captaincy. Rajat Patidar led the team to its first IPL title in 2025.
However, ahead of the new season, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, revealed that former India captain Virat Kohli remains the obvious choice for the captaincy. But he decided to make changes, preferring long-term stability rather than short-term solutions. Virat Kohli is the only player to have represented a single franchise since the IPL began in 2008.
Will Virat Kohli take over the leadership of RCB again?
Kohli became the captain of the team in 2011 and captained the team in 143 matches. Led RCB to two finals in 2011 and 2016 respectively, however, failed to get his hands on silverware as a captain. The former India captain stepped down from the captaincy in 2023, with Faf du Plessis holding the captaincy for only two seasons.
Bobat, speaking on the RCB Podcast, said that he and head coach Andy Flower had met Virat in London soon after the 2024 season to discuss the captaincy role.
“Andy (Flower) and I met him (Kohli) in London sometime after the 2024 season and talked about that (captaincy). He is always ready to step up and lead. He doesn’t need another invitation,” Bobat said.
Here is the video
“𝙋𝙖𝙖𝙖 𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙡” 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘆. !
To develop this, RCB needed peace, structure and a long-term ‘Indian’ captain. The decision was taken from here… pic.twitter.com/jP00IySj59
– Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) 3 March 2026
RCB has looked beyond Virat Kohli
“But what we talked about at that stage was that this decision is not just about the three of us. It’s about RCB as a franchise more broadly – its leadership, maybe even beyond us. We can’t be here, and continue as silver captains. So, this is a moment when we have to take that responsibility quite seriously.”
Bobat admitted that it would have been an easier option to make Virat Kohli the captain again, but he highlighted the need to move on from dependence on the former skipper. The management wanted a young captain who could lead the team as Virat did in 2011 at the age of 23.
The easy thing would be this – Mo Bobat
Bobat further said, “The easy thing would be to say, ‘Virat, do you have any objection to taking over the captaincy?’ But then you’re just pushing a decision. At some point, we cannot depend on Virat all the time. Virat is a talented boy. He got it really quickly. He said, ‘Let’s think about some of these other people. But if you need someone, I can obviously do it.”
RCB has to play the opening match of IPL. However, the schedule for the IPL has not been officially released, and thus, the name of the opponent has also not been revealed. According to reports, RCB will play its home matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium despite the stampede during the victory parade last year.
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