Virat Kohli to return as captain in IPL 2026! Rajat Patidar's serious injury sparked speculations
Will the cricket fans again watch Virat Kohli as the captain of Royal Challengers (RCB)? The injury of Rajat Patidar sparked debate ahead of the IPL 2026 season
Will the cricket fans again watch Virat Kohli as the captain of Royal Challengers (RCB)? The injury of Rajat Patidar sparked debate ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Due to injury, Patidar is out from cricket and is expected to remain out of action for about 4 months.
IPL 2025 was a landmark season for RCB. Under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, the franchise won their maiden IPL title. Apart from the captaincy duty, Patidar was a key instrument for RCB's middle-order batting. If the present reports are to be believed, then the batter can miss some initial matches of the upcoming Indian Premier League campaign.
According to media reports, Patidar has developed a muscle tear, and this injury is expected to keep him off the field for at least four months. The injury occurred during the training for the South Africa A tour, where Patidar was initially expected to be part of the India A squad. Because of the injury, he is completely out of the equation of the India vs. South Africa multi-format series, and it makes him uncertain for IPL 2026 as well.
Will Virat Kohli return as RCB captain in IPL 2026?
Virat Kohli was the captain of RCB for most of the period from 2013 to 2021. He stepped down from the role after the conclusion of IPL 2021. During this period, RCB showed some remarkable brand of cricket but was not fortunate enough to lift the trophy. He also had a brief captaincy stint in 2011 when the then-captain Daniel Vettori was injured.
But will he again return as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru? Kohli, now 37, retired from Test and T20Is but is still fit and fine to perform at the highest level of the game. As of now, it is not clear to see him again as the leader of RCB. In the previous season, Jitesh Sharma acted as the standby skipper of the team, and Virat was the nucleus of the entire setup.
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