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Dinesh Karthik unveiled his all-time Royal Challengers Bengaluru XI, surprisingly naming Rajat Patidar as captain over Virat Kohli. Karthik lauded Patidar's leadership and impact, while also crediting Krunal Pandya's crucial role in their maiden IPL title win last season. RCB now prepares to defend their championship in IPL 2026 with a confident squad.
As the Indian Premier League gears up for another blockbuster season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru remain one of the most talked-about teams in the competition. After finally lifting their maiden IPL title last season, RCB will head into IPL 2026 as defending champions with a strong squad and renewed confidence. Ahead of the new season, RCB’s batting coach and former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik revealed his all-time Royal Challengers Bengaluru playing XI, featuring several legendary players who have represented the franchise over the years.
Dinesh Karthik’s all-time RCB Playing XI 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 129586508 Why Virat Kohli not being captain is a surprise Virat Kohli's exclusion as captain is bit surprise for the fans because of his long and historic association with RCB. Kohli captained RCB from 2013 to 2021, one of the longest captaincy tenures in IPL history. He led the team in around 140–143 matches, winning 66 games and losing 70, with four matches ending without a result.
His captaincy win percentage was around 48% Under Kohli’s leadership, RCB reached the IPL 2016 final, which remains one of their best campaigns. That season also saw Kohli produce arguably the greatest individual IPL season ever, scoring 973 runs, still the record for most runs in a single IPL edition. Chris Gayle: The most destructive RCB batter One of the first names in Karthik’s XI was Chris Gayle, whose impact at RCB between 2011 and 2017 transformed the franchise’s batting identity.
Chris Gayle was one of the most dominant players in the history of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. During his stint with the franchise, Gayle played 85 matches and scored 3163 runs at an average of over 41, smashing five centuries and 19 half-centuries. His most iconic knock came in 2013 when he blasted an unbeaten 175 against Pune Warriors, which still stands as the highest individual score in IPL history.
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