Every time Virat Kohli steps out at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Royal Challengers Bengaluru colours, it feels less like a homecoming and more like a reminder of what could have been and what got away. For Delhi Capitals, the story goes back to the earliest days of the league when a teenage Kohli was there but the franchise chose Pradeep Sangwan instead. That decision has since turned into folklore.
Kohli, meanwhile, wrote his own legend elsewhere. Fresh from leading RCB to their long-awaited title last season, he returns to Delhi not just as a visitor, but as a figure that continues to haunt the franchise’s what-ifs. Against Delhi, he amassed 1,149 runs in 32 matches at an average of 47.88 – numbers that sound like a slow, steady echo. And at this place, his ground, the numbers continue to pile up: 534 runs in 11 innings at an average of 66.75.
Each visit is less about rivalry and more about reminiscing – the runs piling up like a silent, inexorable question that Delhi still can’t answer.
The best thing about Kohli this season has been how he is adapted to the modern way of T20 cricketand showed that he can still hang with the likes of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Priyansh Arya and Abhishek Sharma.
“Every year he reevaluates his game and comes back with a clear plan. To keep up with the pace of this format and still perform consistently is quite remarkable,” Karthik said on the eve of the game.
Last year, Kohli has run into the DC side it was upbeat and confident and ready to attack for the title when it came to visit the Arun Jaitley Stadium. This time, the Capitals were a bit shaky after the beating they got from the Punjab Kings.
After posting 264, Delhi struggled to defend the total as Punjab won the match with seven balls to spare. Axar Patel struck in the standings of the team and powerplay bowling, two areas in which they will need to be at the top of their game against RCB.
Bengaluru have shown very few weak areas this season, their batsmen have shown their prowess in big shots and their fielding and bowling have been on par.
Similar to last season, all of their players stepped up when called upon to perform.
CAN DELHI FIND CONSISTENCY?
DC have always been one of the parties that have found consistency throughout the franchise’s history and not been associated with them. They started last season with four wins on the bounce, yet failed to make the playoffs.
They started this season with back-to-back wins, but suffered four losses in their last five games, leaving them in the playoff race.
The batting was a plus point for them, especially the form of KL Rahul and Nitish Rana who put up a stand of 220 off 95 balls against PBKS.
Tristan Stubbs and David Miller provide the much needed steel in the middle with Sameer Rizvi. They always have the option to call Ashutosh Sharma, also in case of need.
But it was completely different for Delhi with the ball. Mukesh Kumar and Auqib Nabi were dismantled by the Punjab batsmen last time out. There are only two DC bowlers in the top 20 in the race for the purple cap, with Axar and Lungi Ngidi leading the way with seven wickets each.
However, after his horrific injury, Ngidi may miss this match. While Mitchell Starc has joined the team, the Aussie pacer still needs to get up to speed with the events of the tournament.
That means they will have to turn to Dushmanth Chameer to help the bowling overcome the current challenge.
CAN BETHELL PROMOVE?
So Jacob Bethell is considered to be the next big thing in English cricket. He was persuaded by Alastair Cook to come back and play county cricket instead of the IPL, and Kevin Pietersen is urging him to stay.
The T20 World Cup semi-final scare he caused in India remains fresh in everyone’s mind and RCB fans expect him to do the same. Bethell has a strike rate of 165.31 in his IPL career so far, which is good. But with the electric starts that RCB are looking for, they would want Bethell to do more.
With Phil Salt in the Delhi clash, Bethell gets another chance to impress and defend his case as a regular in the team even if his compatriot returns.
DC VS RCB: HEAD TO HEAD
RCB have a good record against DC having won 20 of the 34 matches played between the two sides. Delhi won 13 with one match won. One of those wins came in the reverse fixture of the season when a masterclass from David Miller got them over the line.
DC VS RCB: PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS DELHI
If the DC vs PBKS game is anything to go by then expect a lot of runs to be on offer. In the four matches played on this mixed surface since IPL 2025, the average first innings total has been 197.
Summer is slowly sizzling in Delhi at the moment and accuweather predicts a high temperature of 43 degree celsius and a low of 29 degree celsius on Monday.
DC VS RCB: PREDICTED XIS
Capital Delhi: KL Rahul (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel (capt), Kyle Jamieson/Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.
Impact under: Auqib Nabi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Josh Hazlewood.
Impact under: Suyash Sharma.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
27 Apr 2026 09:24 IST
