The upcoming edition of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-virat-kohli-bhuvneshwar-kumar-padikkal-join-royal-challengers-bengaluru-camp-23621458" rel="nofollow">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Earlier, reports had suggested that Virat, who has largely settled in London over last few years, had asked <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/watch-stalwart-batsman-virat-kohli-gears-up-to-defend-rcb-title-ahead-of-ipl-2026-23621800" rel="nofollow">RCB</a> for access to chartered flights between India and London and that if the gap between his team was more than three days, he would fly back to the UK to spend time with family and return ahead of the game. However, the rumours and reports have been put to rest by Virat.
The right-handed batsman shared a screenshot of the report on his official social media handle with laughing emojis, which in turn indicated that the reports are not true.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/mar/kohlisss_e.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="720" />
The 37-year-old cricketer is also the leading run-scorer in the history of the tournament. So far, having made 267 appearances in the league, Kohli has smashed 8661 runs, with a top score of an unbeaten 113 runs. He also has eight tons and 63 half-centuries to his name.
Additionally, having made 13,543 runs in 414 T20Is, including nine centuries and 105 fifties, Virat will also be aiming to join West Indies titans <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-cheteshwar-pujara-picks-abhishek-sharma-travis-head-as-more-dangerous-pair-than-virat-kohli-chris-gayle-23620809" rel="nofollow">Chris Gayle</a> (14,562 runs), Kieron Pollard (14,482 runs), England's Alex Hales (14,449 runs), and Australian legend David Warner (14,028 runs) as the fifth member of the 14,000-run club in T20 cricket.
<h2>IPL 2026, Opening match: Date and venue</h2>
Earlier, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary, Santosh Menon, confirmed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will host five of the RCB's IPL 2026 home games. The venue will also host one of the play-off matches and the title clash of the tournament.
Bengaluru's remaining two home matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's squad: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
(With ANI Inputs)

IPL 2026: The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad

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The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru

IPL 2026: Kohli reacts to 'chartered flights to London' reports ahead of season

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