Former Chennai Super Kings batter Suresh Raina believes Virat Kohli will be highly motivated to defend the Indian Premier League title in the 2026 season following their historic win last year. Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally broke their 18-year drought to lift the trophy, with Kohli playing a crucial role both on and off the field.
Heading into IPL 2026 as defending champions, RCB will face a tough challenge to retain their crown, especially with other teams strengthening their squads during the off-season. The Rajat Patidar-led side has also fine-tuned its championship-winning unit, though concerns around injuries and player form remain.
Raina added that Kohli is likely to unite and inspire the team, pushing them to go all out in their bid to successfully defend the title.
“The moment Virat Kohli reaches the Chinnaswamy Stadium, his very first question would be, ‘Which players will raise their hand? We have to defend this title’. That is the mindset. He is only playing ODIs now, he is not playing T20Is or Tests. Will he tell the Chinnaswamy Stadium that it was not a fluke from us? We worked a lot for it, Kohli will say,” Suresh Raina said on Star Sports.
Suresh Raina likens RCB squad to CSK’s 2010–11 team
Suresh Raina drew parallels between the current Royal Challengers Bengaluru side and the Chennai Super Kings team he played in, highlighting their experience. He pointed out that in both squads, most of the Indian players had considerable international exposure.
“They already have 7-8 players who have played for India. When CSK had won back-to-back in 2010 and 2011, we also had a setup like that, where 7-8 players had played for India,” Suresh Raina said.
“RCB’s team is so strong now, they have brought in Venkatesh Iyer, Devdutt Padikkal has been in terrific form, he has been scoring a lot of runs. The best thing about RCB is that they have a sorted batting order,” he added.
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