IPL 2026: Virat Kohli rubbishes ‘charter flights to London’ claims
Star batter moved to London with his family a couple of years ago
Dubai: Royal Challengers Bengaluru star batter Virat Kohli has dismissed reports claiming he demanded charter flights during the IPL 2026 season to commute between London and Bengaluru. He brushed off the speculation with a couple of laughing emojis on his Instagram story.
The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League will begin on March 28, with defending champions RCB facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru.
Earlier, reports suggested that Kohli — who has spent considerable time living in London in recent years — had requested access to chartered flights to travel between the UK and India. The claims also alleged that he planned to fly back to London during breaks of more than three days between matches to spend time with his family. Kohli, however, put an end to the rumours by sharing one such reportalong with laughing emojis, making it clear the claims were unfounded.
Kohli joined the RCB training camp in Bengaluru only recently ahead of the season opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
On the field, Kohli remains focused on delivering another strong season. With 8,661 runs in 267 IPL matches, including eight centuries and 63 fifties, he is closing in on the historic 9,000-run mark in the league.
Across all T20 competitions for RCB, including the now-defunct Champions League T20, Kohli has amassed 9,085 runs in 282 matches — putting him within reach of becoming the first player to score 10,000 runs for a single franchise.
In overall T20 cricket, Kohli has scored 13,543 runs in 414 matches. He is now chasing a place in the elite 14,000-run club alongside players like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales, and David Warner.
Last season, Kohli scored 657 runs in 15 innings at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71, registering eight fifties. He finished as RCB’s leading run-scorer and the third-highest overall in the tournament.
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