Why Virat Kohli Not in RCB Playing 11: Virat Kohli is not a part of the playing 11 of Royal Challengers Bangalore against Lucknow Super Giants in the 23rd league match of IPL 2026. For the match, Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar has won the toss and decided to bowl. Therefore, Bengaluru team will enter the field for run chase.

Let us tell you that Kohli has been kept among the impact players of Bengaluru. Somewhere from this it becomes clear that Kohli can enter the playing 11 during the chase. This simply means that Kohli will not be seen fielding on the field. But the biggest question is why Kohli was suddenly dropped from the playing 11.

Why was Virat Kohli out of playing 11?

RCB played its last match against Mumbai Indians on 12 April. In this match, RCB batted first. Kohli had scored 50 runs in 38 balls with the help of 5 fours and 1 six. But during the next innings, Kohli did not come on the field for fielding.

Reportedly, Kohli was suffering from a heel injury, due to which he did not come to the field for fielding. For this reason, Kohli was not made a part of the playing 11 against Lucknow. However, captain Rajat Patidar did not give any update regarding Kohli’s injury.

RCB playing 11 against Lucknow

Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar.

rcb impact sub

Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Jordan Cox, Kanishk Chauhan, Mangesh Yadav.

– Josh Hazlewood back for RCB.

– Virat Kohli slotted as an impact player. pic.twitter.com/gj8MBuzsyk

— CRICKET (@v_k_fan18) April 15, 2026

Bengaluru would like to score a win against Lucknow

Bengaluru has played four matches in the season. The team is on the field for the fifth match against Lucknow. The Bengaluru team, which has played three matches so far, would definitely like to score a win against Lucknow. Now it will be interesting to see how Bengaluru performs in this match.