
Virat Kohli (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2026 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. In their last match against Lucknow Super Giants, star batsman Virat Kohli was deployed as an Impact Player.Kohli suffered an ankle injury during the win over Mumbai Indians and did not field in the second innings, but still contributed 49 runs against LSG.This begs the key question – will Kohli emerge again as an Impact Player against Delhi Capitals?RCB have been in impressive form this season, suffering only one defeat which came against Rajasthan Royals. Apart from that, they recorded dominant wins over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants, placing them second in the points table.A win in this game could see them rise to the top. RCB also have a favorable head-to-head, having won 20 of the 33 matches played against Delhi Capitals, who have 12 wins, with one match ending in a draw.As for the team combination, Kohli is expected to be fully fit and likely to return as a regular player. However, if the team decides to manage his workload, he could be used again as an Impact Player.After the win over LSG, Kohli admitted he was still regaining full fitness after a knee problem and brief illness, although he was happy with his batting.
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Bombay Sport Exchange: Munaf Patel on Gautam Gambhir, Virat vs Bumrah and Indian bowling.“Much better than the last game. I’m still not 100 percent. In the last game, my knee hurt a little bit. I’ve been under the weather for four or five days as well, health-wise. So I’m back to my best. I started well today, so I was happy with my intensity. Again, I’d like to go on and finish the game. Sometimes you have to take the pitch into account and slow down. I just have to take the pitch conditions into account. the same way, but in the end, he probably should have too finish,” Kohli said after the match against LSG.platoons:Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma (wK), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, Venkatesh Iyer, S Yadav, Jacob Mangessh Bethell, Hazlewood, Jordan Cox, Nuwan Thushara, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul(wk), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Vipraj Nigam, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqibme, Karma, Nabi Dar, Na Dushme Chauntha Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Tripurana Vijay, Abishek Porel, Sahil Parakh. Madhav Tiwari




