India, April 15 -- Royal Challengers Bengaluru's team sheet for the IPL 2026 clash against Lucknow Super Giants answered the biggest pre-match question before a ball was bowled. Virat Kohli was not named in the starting XI, but was placed among the Impact Sub options, a move that immediately pointed to fitness management rather than outright unavailability.

The context around that decision had been building since RCB's previous match against the Mumbai Indians. Kohli had batted in that game and made a half-century, but he did not take the field during Mumbai's chase after picking up an ankle issue. That detail suddenly made RCB's selection call against LSG look far less surprising. The franchise clearly did not want to risk him for 20 ov...