Dinesh Karthik picks RCB's all-time playing XI ahead of IPL 2026: THIS player named captain over Virat Kohli
Chris Gayle and Faf du Plessis will open in Karthik’s all-time RCB XI.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will enter IPL 2026 as the defending champions for the first time in the league’s history, and the city of Bengaluru knows exactly what that means.
Ahead of their campaign opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 28, batting coach Dinesh Karthik has put forward his greatest-ever RCB playing XI on the Cricbuzz YouTube channel.
The top order, frankly, picks itself without much debate. Karthik picks Chris Gayle to open the innings; his 3,163 runs across 85 appearances remain the most brutal and entertaining T20 batting this tournament has ever seen.
Faf du Plessis partners with him at the top, bringing 3 seasons of captaincy and 1,636 runs from 45 games to the table. Indian legend Virat Kohli, who has scored 8,661 runs from 259 matches for RCB, bats at No. 3 and remains their greatest ever batter without any argument.
The captain who changed everything for RCB
But the most significant decision on his part is at No. 4. He handed over the captaincy to Rajat Patidar (2025), who led RCB not only to their first IPL title but also to breaking the jinx of years of heartbreak for fans who had waited long enough.
Patidar earned that kind of recognition the hardest way possible, by actually winning the thing. AB de Villiers is fifth, with 4,491 runs at an average of 40.74 over 156 matches before he walked away from franchise cricket after the end of the 2021 season.
Jitesh Sharma will slot at No. 6 and will also take care of keeping duties. Star all-rounder Krunal Pandya is next in line at No. 7, having claimed three Player of the Match awards for just the 2025 campaign. Harshal Patel will lead the bowling attack in Karthik’s XI.
Patel took 99 wickets from 80 games in his stint with Red and Black. Mohammed Siraj will join Patel in the bowling department. The Hyderabad-born pacer has taken 83 wickets from 87 matches in the six seasons that he played for the Royal Challengers.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who has scalped 139 wickets in 113 outings, will handle the spin department. Josh Hazlewood completes this XI. The Australian star was the most vital bowler in the title run last year.
Dinesh Karthik’s All-Time RCB XI-
Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), AB de Villiers, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Josh Hazlewood.
Impact Players: Devdutt Padikkal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Who is the captain in Dinesh Karthik’s all-time RCB playing XI?
Karthik has picked Rajat Patidar as his captain.
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Ajay Gandhar has been part of Khel Now since 2023 and has expertise across a wide range of Olympic sports. While his coverage spans the Olympic spectrum, he is passionate about Badminton, Tennis, Football, and Track and Field. Beyond his primary focus areas, Ajay is also an avid kabaddi enthusiast and closely follows the sport.