Virat Kohli's homecoming in focus as RCB look to pounce on wounded DC

Every time Virat Kohli walks out at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Royal Challengers Bengaluru colours, it feels less like a homecoming and more like a reminder—of what might have been, and what slipped away. For Delhi Capitals, the story loops back to the league’s earliest days, when a teenage Kohli was there for the taking, but the franchise chose Pradeep Sangwan instead. The years since have turned that decision into folklore.

Kohli, meanwhile, has written his own legend elsewhere. Fresh off guiding RCB to their long-awaited title last season, he returns to Delhi not just as a visitor, but as a figure who continues to haunt the franchise’s what-ifs. Against Delhi, he has piled up 1149 runs in 32 matches at an average of 47.88—numbers that read like a slow, persistent echo. And at this ground, his ground, the numbers swell further: 534 runs in 11 innings, averaging 66.75.

Each visit is less about rivalry and more about remembrance—the runs piling up like a quiet, unrelenting question Delhi still cannot answer.

The best thing about Kohli this season has been how he has adapted to the modern way of T20 cricket, and showing that he can still hang around with the likes of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Priyansh Arya and Abhishek Sharma among others.

"He reassesses his game every year and comes back with a clear plan. To keep up with the pace of this format and still perform consistently is quite remarkable," said Karthik on the eve of the game.

Last year, Kohli came up against a DC side that was upbeat and confident and ready to put in a title charge when he came to visit the Arun Jaitley stadium. This time around, the Capitals left shaking a bit after the beating they got from the Punjab Kings.

After posting 264, Delhi struggled to defend the total as Punjab won the match with seven balls remaining. Axar Patel slammed the team's fielding and the powerplay bowling, two areas they will need to be on top of their game against RCB.

Bengaluru have shown very few areas of weakness this season, with their batters showing their big-hitting prowess and the fielding and bowling being on par.

Much like the case last season, all their players have stepped up when called upon to perform.

CAN DELHI FIND CONSISTENCY?

DC have always been one of the sides that has found consistency to not be associated with them throughout the history of the franchise. Last season, they started with four wins on the bounce, and yet failed to reach the playoffs.

They started this season with back-to-back wins, but have suffered four losses in the last five games, leaving them in a race to get the playoff spot.

The batting has been a plus point for them, especially the form of KL Rahul and Nitish Rana, who put together a stand of 220 off 95 balls against PBKS.

Tristan Stubbs and David Miller provide much-needed steel in the middle with Sameer Rizvi. They always have the option of calling in Ashutosh Sharma, also if needed.

But with the ball, it has been completely different for Delhi. Mukesh Kumar and Auqib Nabi were taken apart by Punjab batters last time around. In the race for the Purple cap, there are only two bowlers from DC in the top 20, with Axar and Lungi Ngidi leading the way with seven wickets each.

However, after his horrific injury, Ngidi may sit out this match. While Mitchell Starc has joined the squad, the Aussie pacer still needs to get to pace with things in the tournament.

This means they will need to turn to Dushmantha Chameera to help the bowling to overcome the current challenge.

CAN BETHELL STEP UP?

So, Jacob Bethell finds himself being considered as the next big thing in English cricket. He has got Alastair Cook urging him to come back and play county cricket instead of the IPL and Kevin Pietersen urging him to stay on.

The T20 World Cup semi-final scare he gave India remains fresh in the minds of everyone and RCB fans expect him to do the same. So far in his IPL career, Bethell has a strike-rate of 165.31, which is good. But given the electric starts that RCB are looking for, they would want Bethell to do more.

With Phil Salt out for the clash in Delhi, Bethell gets another chance to impress and make his case for being a regular in the side even when his compatriot does make a comeback.

DC VS RCB: HEAD TO HEAD

RCB have a good record against DC, winning 20 out of the 34 games played between both sides. Delhi have won 13 with one game being washed out. One of those wins came in the reverse fixture this season, when a masterclass from David Miller got them over the line.

DC VS RCB: DELHI PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

If the DC vs PBKS game is anything to go by, then expect a lot of runs to be on offer. Across the four matches played on this mixed-soil surface since IPL 2025, the average first-innings total has stood at 197.

The summer is slowly sizzling up in Delhi at the moment and accuweather is predicting Monday to have a high temperature of 43 degree celsius and a low of 29.

DC VS RCB: PREDICTED XIS

Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel (capt), Kyle Jamieson/Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.

Impact sub: Auqib Nabi

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Josh Hazlewood.

Impact sub: Suyash Sharma.

IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score