No place for Virat Kohli as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gets the nod in the former CSK star’s best IPL 2026 while playing XII.

Virat Kohli and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi NEW DELHI: Former India and CSK batsman Subramaniam Badrinath unveiled his best IPL 2026 in Game XII for the league stage and the biggest talking point was the exclusion of superstars Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Instead, Badrinath, revealing the line-up in a video on his YouTube channel, picked young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to top the order alongside Shubman Gill.His team was largely built around players from the top four teams that qualified for the playoffs, with nine of the 12 picks coming from those teams. Badrinath favored a heavy Indian-style batting line-up and relied on overseas stars mainly in the bowling department, reflecting how many IPL franchises are usually structured.He picked Sai Sudharsan at third while Heinrich Klaasen was picked as a middle-order powerhouse. Rajat Patidar also established himself as a finisher thanks to his impressive strike rate and ability to step up in pressure situations, despite not being among the best players in the tournament.Badrinath’s line-up leaned heavily towards bowlers and all-rounders in the lower order. He picked all-rounders Krunal Pandya and Sunil Narine for their wicket-taking ability and economical spells during the season.One of the surprising omissions was Rashid Khan, despite his strong wicket tally. Badrinath seemed to value economy and control over mere wicket numbers.The pace attack included the leading wicket takers of the tournament: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer and Kagiso Rabada. He also added Prince Yadav or Kartik Tyagi as extra pace while Akeal Hosein was selected as an Impact Player.Subramaniam Badrinath IPL 2026 XII: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Heinrich Klaasen, Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada, Prince Yadav/Kartik Tyagi