Will Virat Kohli Win Orange Cap in IPL 2026? RCB Head Coach Puts Weight Behind Star Batter

Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower has put his weight behind Virat Kohli and said that the flamboyant batter is in a brilliant form and the way he is batting is just a treat to watch. 

“Virat is in a really good space mentally. He’s very comfortable with himself but still incredibly hungry, and watching him strike the ball in training, he looks at the peak of his powers,” Flower said.

Kohli has been in sublime form scoring runs consistently for India in ODIs and also made valuable contribution in the two domestic matches that he played for Delhi. While he ended the Australia tour with a brilliant half-century, Kohli who has bid adieu to T20Is and Tests notched up two hundreds against South Africa in three-match series and struck a brilliant ton against New Zealand at home. 

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is scheduled to begin on March 28 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Bengaluru. RCB will begin the campaign as the defending champions after they lifted the cup last year defeating Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad. 

Reflecting on the team’s experiences at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Flower noted that the side has taken valuable lessons from previous outings at the venue.

“We lost our first three matches at Chinnaswamy last year, and we learned from those experiences. Conditions might be slightly different this time as well, so we’ll have to assess that. But at your home venue, you should have a better understanding of the nuances of the conditions than your opposition. We’ve been practising here and talking a lot about those aspects, so I’d like to think we’ll be slightly ahead of the opposition on our own surface,” he said.

Flower also spoke about the leadership group within the squad, praising captain Rajat Patidar and his deputy Jitesh Sharma.

“It’s pretty amazing that in Rajat’s first year of captaincy, he led RCB to the trophy. He’s a very likeable man, and he’s well respected in the dressing room. He stays nice and calm, which the bowlers really appreciate. Jitesh is a very good deputy as well. He’s energetic, tactically aware and sees a lot of the game from behind the stumps, so having those two working together around the square is valuable for the team,” he added.

Earlier, RCB also suffered a blow after pacer Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the fixture against Sunrisers. 

(With Agency Inputs)

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