As the Indian Premier League gears up for another blockbuster season, Royal Challengers Bangalore remain one of the most watched teams in the tournament. After winning the IPL title for the first time last season, RCB will enter IPL 2026 as the defending champions with a strong squad and renewed confidence.
Ahead of the start of the new season, RCB’s batting coach and former wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has revealed his Royal Challengers Bangalore XI, which includes several legendary players who have represented the franchise over the years.
Dinesh Karthik’s all-time RCB lineups
Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (captain), AB de Villiers, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Josh Hazlewood
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Why Virat Kohli is not captain is surprising
Virat Kohli’s omission from the captaincy came as a bit of a surprise to the fans as he has a long and historic association with RCB.
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Kohli captained RCB from 2013 to 2021, one of the longest captaincy tenures in the history of IPL.
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He led the team to play about 140-143 games, winning 66 games and losing 70 games, four of which were inconclusive.
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His captain win rate is about 48%
Under Kohli’s leadership, RCB reached the final of IPL 2016, which remains one of their best performances. That season, Kohli also had arguably the greatest individual season in IPL history, scoring 973 runs, which still stands as the record for the most runs in a single IPL edition.
Chris Gayle: The most destructive RCB batsman
Chris Gayle was one of the first players in the Katic squad and his impact at RCB between 2011 and 2017 transformed the team’s batting identity.
Chris Gayle is one of the most dominant players in the history of Royal Challengers Bangalore. During his time with the team, Gayle played 85 games, scored 3163 runs at an average of over 41, and broke the record of 5 centuries and 19 half-centuries. His most iconic knock came in 2013 when he scored an unbeaten 175 against the Pune Warriors, which remains the highest individual score in IPL history. Gayle, along with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, formed one of the most formidable batting trios in the league, often referred to as RCB’s golden era line-up, capable of dismantling any bowling attack on the day.
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Why Shane Watson wasn’t named in the XI
The absence of Shane Watson also surprised some fans as he is known as a world-class all-round athlete. However, Watson’s RCB career came late in his IPL career and his performances in the team were relatively modest. Watson enjoyed greater success with Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, which may have influenced Karthik’s decision to leave him out.
Rajat Patidar named captain
One of the most eye-catching choices in Kartik’s XI was the appointment of Rajat Patidar as captain instead of long-time skipper Virat Kohli. Kartik explained that Patidhar’s leadership and recent performance played a major role in his decision.
“He is the most successful captain, let’s start from there. As a batsman, the impact he has made in the short time he has played for RCB is phenomenal. He is a key player for RCB. In fact, I would have said up front that he will be my captain,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
While acknowledging Kohli’s long and successful tenure as RCB captain, Karthik also said Patidar’s championship-winning leadership gave him an edge.
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Karthik praises Krunal Pandya’s influence
Karthik also highlighted the contribution of Krunal Pandya, especially his performance in the championship season.
“If RCB can win the trophy today, a lot of it will be due to his great bowling in the final and his best performance against CSK. He played such a crucial role last year,” Karthik said.
RCB’s bowling setup
Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal were given a spot in the bowling attack mainly because of their stellar records with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chahal remains one of the most successful spinners in the franchise’s history, while Harshaal’s wicket-taking prowess made him a standout during his time with the team. Josh Hazlewood has been included at No. 11 after his impressive performance with the ball in the IPL 2025 season. Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik, who has selected Mohammed Siraj as Hazlewood’s new-ball partner ahead of former RCB bowlers Vinay Kumar and Sreenath Aravind, explained that Siraj’s selection was largely based on the huge number of wickets he has taken for the team over the years.
After ending their long wait for the IPL trophy last season, Royal Challengers Bangalore are now targeting to defend their title next season.