No Kohli as Captain! Dinesh Karthik Reveals His All-Time RCB Playing XI

Dinesh Karthik revealed his all-time Royal Challengers Bengaluru(RCB) XI ahead of IPL 2026, featuring Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach Dinesh Karthik selected his all-time RCB playing 11 on March 13 ahead of the IPL 2026 season. The lineup featured several modern players instead of many past legends.

Chris Gayle and Faf du Plessis formed the opening pair in the team. Virat Kohli occupied the number 3 position. AB de Villiers slotted into the middle order at number 5. Rajat Patidar secured a place in the lineup after only 4 years with the franchise. Karthik also named him captain of the side. Jitesh Sharma took the wicketkeeper role at number 6. All-rounder Krunal Pandya also entered the team. His bowling performances during the 2025 season and the final played a key role in RCB’s title win.

“He’s(Patidar) the most successful captain, let’s start there, but as a batter, the impact he’s given in the short time that he’s played for RCB, [has been] quite phenomenal and [he is] such a key player for RCB. In fact, I’ll go a step ahead and say that he would be my captain. Virat Kohli obviously has led it for so many seasons and [has been] successful too, but I’d still say just the fact that he won Rajat Patidar, [would be] the captain,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

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“If RCB has the trophy today, you have to say, it is largely due to how well he(Krunal) bowled in that final, but also the man of the match that he got against CSK, and he played such a pivotal role last year. Not too many left-arm spinners have been as successful through RCB for the year,” he added.

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.