Ace India batter Virat Kohli scored a 12-ball 29 in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first warm-up game of IPL 2026, six days ahead of their season-opening game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M
Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Split into two teams led by Krunal Pandya and Venkatesh Iyer, the batters enjoyed a strong outing in a friendly practice game.
The defending champions kick off the IPL 2026 season aiming for a strong start to their title defence. The team has gathered in Bengaluru and is already in full training mode.
RCB shared a practice session video on social media on Monday, highlighting key moments. In the clip, Krunal noted that multiple batters looked in excellent touch during Sunday’s session, March 22.
“It was a good practice game. Everyone had a good hit. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled really well, Abhinandan (Singh) bowled really well, Mangesh (Yadav) bowled really well,” Krunal said.
Watch the video here:
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Jitesh, Rajat, Devdutt and KP amongst the runs, exciting cameos from Virat, Venky and TD, and some promising spells to sum up an exciting practice game. 🔥
Watch how it all… pic.twitter.com/SAaT2kPNox
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 23, 2026
Jitesh Sharma starred with the bat, scoring 81 off just 37 deliveries at a strike rate of almost 219. Poised to take on the finisher’s role again, he will be aiming for an even stronger campaign this season.
Alongside Jitesh, Tim David (36 off 14) and Venkatesh Iyer (30 off 16) also impressed with the bat. RCB are still determining the best role for the latter, who can bring dynamic impact in any T20 lineup.
Krunal highlighted Kohli’s quickfire 29 off 12 deliveries, noting that the latter looked in great rhythm from the start. RCB will be counting on their talisman for another strong campaign as they aim to show last season’s title triumph was no fluke.
