Royal Challengers Bengaluru talisman Virat Kohli looked vintage in nets on Thursday, March 19. Kohli played some wonderful knocks in the match against RCB spinner Swapnil Singh and picked up where he left off last season.
The senior batsman, who scored 657 runs at a healthy strike rate of 144 last season, returned to India on March 18, 10 days before the opening match of the Indian Premier League season. RCB will take on SunRisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in their first home match of the campaign.
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Kohli is expected to be in the limelight once again as RCB look to defend the crown, their first in 18 seasons of the competition. The senior batsman appeared in excellent touch in the nets, coming off the track to attack the spinners while maintaining a solid base against all-rounders like Venkatesh Iyer.
He also put up an interesting battle against seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who fired a searing yorker on the leg stump. Failing to drop the bat in time, Kohli had to move his feet apart to avoid being hit. The ball hit one of the batsmen stationed behind the wicket, prompting Kohli to look up at Bhuvneshwar, perhaps in awe as he seemed to marvel at the seamer’s continued sharpness at the age of 36.
This yorker from Bhuvneshwar Kumar completely beat Virat Kohli.??
Last two years Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s name has gone down a bit but maybe he will do something special in this IPL for sure.?? pic.twitter.com/L0bF9BsR0Z— ???????????????45(@rushiii_12) March 19, 2026
VIRT KOHLI’S RECENT FORM
The Indian superstar, who only plays ODI cricket for the national team, has been in tremendous form in the last two bilateral series. Kohli amassed three hundreds in the last two bilaterals and also hit two fifties.
Before the New Zealand series, Kohli also featured in the domestic season where he played two matches for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The batter hit 131 and 77 against Andhra and Gujarat respectively.
The senior player was key to RCB’s success last season. He has played with fierce aggression in the order and is expected to double it this time as well.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
19 March 2026 20:58 IST
