Virat Kohli picks his all-time RCB XI: Gayle, De Villiers in, but no place for title-winner Hazlewood
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Virat Kohli picks his all-time RCB XI: Gayle, De Villiers in, but no place for title-winner Hazlewood")
Virat Kohli picks his all-time RCB XI Gayle, De Villiers in, but no place for title-winner Hazlewood Photograph: (AFP)
Virat Kohli reveals his star-studded all-time RCB XI. While icons Chris Gayle and ABD lead the charge, 2025 title-winner Josh Hazlewood and close pal Mohammed Siraj miss out. See the full list!
Virat Kohli is a cricket giant, perhaps the best of his time for India and his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), with whom he won his maiden league title in 2025. Having played for just one team across 18 editions, Kohli has rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of world cricket. Upon being asked to name his all-time RCB XI, Kohli recalled each of the top stars he shared the dressing room with in the IPL, picking the obvious ones – Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers, but missed out on a title-winner, Josh Hazlewood and ex-RCB teammate and close pal, Mohammed Siraj.
In a video released by the franchise on Monday (Mar 16), Kohli named his all-time RCB XI.
The veteran opener started with the legendary Gayle and himself at the top, with his dear friend and RCB legend AB de Villiers at three. Kohli wasted no time in filling his overseas quota first by naming the remaining two foreign players. Without thinking twice, he first named Mitchell Starc, who played only one season for the RCB and cricket bowling great Dale Steyn.
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With four foreign players sorted, he went back to the drawing board and began picking players for the remaining positions.
“AB, Chris, Mitchell Starc, because he played for us…I think Dale, because I would like the bowling to be even stronger in that XI. So yeah, you got two seamers. You got Chris, myself and AB,” Kohli said before progressing.
Choosing batters for the middle and lower order, Kohli picked his former RCB teammate KL Rahul to bat at number four, followed by RCB’s IPL-winning captain Rajat Patidar, whom Virat picked because he plays spin better than others. At six, Kohli was quick in naming his keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik.
“At four, I would have KL. He had an amazing season, I think, batting at four for us. Five, I would say…give five to Rajat, maybe, because he plays spin amazingly well, and he’s one of the best Indian talents that we’ve had. Six would be Dinesh, for sure.”
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With three spots remaining, Kohli went for two leg-spinners and a pace-bowling all-rounder. After jokingly explaining Yuzvendra Chahal’s inclusion (at number 11 for his batting), Kohli next picked veteran Anil Kumble, while naming Harshal Patel to fill in at number seven.
Virat Kohli’s All-Time RCB XI –
Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble, Harshal Patel, Mitchell Starc, Dale Steyn and Yuzvendra Chahal
