Royal Challengers Bengaluru legend Virat Kohli revealed his all-time RCB IPL XI ahead of the upcoming IPL 2026 season. RCB are the defending champions of the tournament, having won the IPL 2025 season under Rajat Patidar’s captaincy.

Kohli will be seen in action when RCB takes on SRH in the IPL 2026 tournament opener on March 28 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

In a popular video on RCB social media, Kohli was asked to choose his finest RCB XI, and the 37-year-old chose six hitters, two frontline seamers, one all-rounder, and a spinner. The RCB icon was keen to confront the elephant in the room, disclosing his four international selections first.

He picked Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Starc, and Dale Steyn. There was no mention of Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood in Kohli's XI. Hazlewood took 22 wickets in 12 matches last season, helping RCB win the trophy for the first time.

"I would say Gayle and I 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. So yeah, you got two seamers; you got Chris, myself, and AB," Kohli said in a video posted by RCB.

Kohli then picked KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Anil Kumble, and Yuzvendra Chahal in his all-time RCB IPL XI.

"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. 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," he added.  

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 Chahal