Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Virat Kohli addressed speculation surrounding his travel plans during IPL 2026, responding on social media to reports that claimed he had made major demands to the franchise. According to the reports, Kohli had requested access to chartered flights between India and London throughout the tournament. It was also suggested that he had informed the team management that he would travel to London whenever there was a three-day gap between matches, returning only a day before the next fixture.
Kohli, however, quickly rejected the claims with a light-hearted reaction. He shared a screenshot of the report on his Instagram story, adding two laughing emojis to underline his response.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are scheduled to open their campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 28.
Following his first IPL title in his 18th season with the franchise, Kohli will be aiming to carry that momentum into another impactful year with the bat, seeking to deliver performances that continue to excite supporters and draw attention to his statistical milestones.
Currently, Kohli has amassed 8,661 runs from 267 IPL matches, including eight centuries and 63 fifties. During the upcoming season, he will keep the fans happy and statisticians busy while targeting the milestone of becoming the first cricketer to reach 9,000 runs in IPL history.
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Across the IPL and the now-defunct Champions League T20, Kohli has accumulated 9,085 runs in 282 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. This places him within reach of becoming the first player to score 10,000 runs for a single IPL franchise across all T20 competitions.
In overall T20 cricket, Kohli has scored 13,543 runs in 414 matches, registering nine centuries and 105 fifties. He is also closing in on a place among the leading run-scorers in the format, with the potential to join Chris Gayle (14,562 runs), Kieron Pollard (14,482 runs), Alex Hales (14,449 runs) and David Warner (14,028 runs) as the fifth player to cross the 14,000-run mark.
In the previous season, Kohli finished as Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s top run-scorer and the third-highest overall in the tournament. He compiled 657 runs from 15 innings at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71, including eight half-centuries.
