Virat Kohli warns RCB of tough IPL 2026 challenge as title defence begins

Virat Kohli has urged Royal Challengers Bengaluru to stay focused as defending IPL champions, warning of a tough 2026 season. RCB began preparations in Bengaluru with head coach Andy Flower welcoming new signings ahead of their title defence.

Bengaluru: As Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) get ready to defend their Indian Premier League (IPL) title, their former captain and star batter Virat Kohli has warned the side of the challenging times ahead for them in the 19th edition of the competition, which will start on March 28.

RCB, who won their maiden IPL title in the 2025 edition, will start their defence of the title with a clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28. They will then take on five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in another home clash on April 5 in the first leg of the competition.

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The RCB have started their preparatory camp in Bengaluru on Saturday with the first training session at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

India’s star batsman, Virat Kohli, warned his RCB teammates that the 2026 IPL season would be more challenging; since they are the defending champions, other teams would redouble their efforts to defeat them, according to reports on Saturday.

During the team’s first practice session, Kohli spoke to a small group consisting mostly of Indian players and urged them to give their absolute best in the coming weeks. “We worked really hard over the last two to three seasons to achieve what we did last year, and it’s only going to get tougher because other teams are going to come hard at us,” Kohli told his teammates.

The new players were earlier welcomed to the squad by head coach Andy Flower before Virat Kohli gave them a pep talk in the first practice session.

The former India captain, who ranks high on the all-time scorers’ list in the IPL, emphasised urgency from day one, “We don’t waste these days. We stay ahead. So, switch on now. Let’s not waste even a minute of any session that we are a part of. We must give our 120 per cent for these two and a half months.”

RCB have strengthened their squad in the auction, picking players like Venkatesh Iyer, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, and Satvik Deswal to their squad at the auction.

Head coach Flower expressed satisfaction with the squad assembled after the auction, saying the franchise had strengthened key areas.

“We had an interesting auction, and I think we’ve improved our squad, to be quite frank. We’ve brought in some great new additions. Integrating them into the RCB way alongside established players led by Virat and Rajat is an exciting part of building this team,” Flower said.

Flower said the team would embrace the challenge rather than dwell on past success. “There is one difference this year: we’ve got a star on our shirt. That’s a very proud feeling for all RCB fans. But that season is gone. Now we have a new challenge ahead, and it’s an exciting one. We’re here to win this year’s IPL,” he added.