![Virat Kohli bowls to Phil Salt in the RCB nets [Source: RCBTweets/X.com]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1774360254243_ViratKohliPhilSaltnets(1).jpg?type=hq)
Virat Kohli bowls to Phil Salt in the RCB nets [Source: RCBTweets/X.com]
The brand-new season of the biggest T20 league in the world is just around the corner, and for the first time in 19 years, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will head into the tournament as the defending champions. Two mainstays from their maiden title win, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt, have once again united ahead of the IPL 2026 opener and were seen sharing a net session.
Interestingly, the former skipper, Kohli, for the first time in several seasons, was on the bowling duties as he barraged Salt with uncomfortable bouncers to fine-tune their preparations.
Watch โ Virat Kohli peppers Phil Salt with bouncers in RCB nets
In the recent ICC T20 World Cup, Salt could only score 130 runs in 8 innings and looked low on confidence towards the second half of the tournament. Realising that it is important to get his opening partner out of the rut, Kohli took the onus and did some throwdowns for the Englishman, asking whether he needed to face the bouncers.
Upon Saltโs approval, Virat Kohli, whose last IPL over dates back to 2016, ran in with some quick bouncers. While Salt looked to be in some rhythm, he edged a bouncer, which would supposedly go over the wicketkeeper for a four, according to Kohli.
Kohli was also struck for a straight drive and a pull by Salt to instil some positivity in the fanbase before IPL 2026 kicks off.
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Considering Virat Kohliโs bowling record, it is highly unlikely that he bowls his right-arm medium pace in IPL 2026 and recreates any of these bouncers in competitive matches, barring any surprises.
Kohli-Salt look to recreate magic for RCB
Ahead of IPL 2026, the Virat Kohli and Phil Salt duo have only played one full season of IPL together, where Salt was replacing Faf du Plessis for RCB after an impressive trophy-winning campaign with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Living up to his reputation, Salt complimented Kohli perfectly throughout the season as the pair managed to play their respective natural games. In 13 matches, including the final, they scored 565 runs together as a pair, which was the third most by any opening partnership in the season.
Overall, Salt scored 403 high-impact runs in 13 innings, striking at 176, while Kohli was once again in the race for the orange cap, accumulating 657 runs in 15 innings, striking at 144.71.
RCB well-positioned to defend IPL title
Following the unprecedented success in IPL 2025, defeating the table-toppers, Punjab Kings in the final, RCB have found a perfect balance in the team combination and have a settled team management ahead of IPL 2026.
They have retained their core group of players, including the openers, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt, while adding some promising talents like Mangesh Yadav, Vihaan Malhotra and Jacob Duffy, among others. With the squad they have assembled, they are well-set to challenge for the playoff spots and could also go on and defend the title, becoming only the third team to do so.
They will play their first match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 28 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in front of their home supporters.
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