India, March 27 -- Virat Kohli and RCB begin their title defence on Saturday in the season opener against SRH, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. He is the leading all-time run-scorer in the tournament's history with 8661 runs in 267 matches.

Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, RCB head coach Andy Flower reflected on the veteran batter's form and expressed confidence in his mindset. Kohli holds the official records for most runs scored in a single season (973 runs in 2016) and most career IPL tons (8).

"Virat is in a really good space mentally. He's very comfortable with himself but still incredibly hungry and watching him strike the ball in training, he looks at the peak of his powers," he said.

Kohli is also no longer the RCB skipp...