With the IPL 2026 less than a week away, a report related to Virat Kohli started doing rounds on the internet and it took the cricketer himself to debunk it. Kohli took to Instagram on Sunday (March 22) to respond to the report claiming he had requested “chartered flight access” to travel between India and London during the IPL 2026 season.
Sharing the report with laughing emojis, the star batter effectively silenced claims that he planned to fly back to the UK during every three-day break in the schedule.
Viral rumour involving Kohli which the RCB star debunked
The reports alleged that Kohli, who has spent significant time in London post the birth of his son, Akaay, wanted a private arrangement to balance family time with the two-month tournament. However, Kohli’s swift reaction and his “120% commitment” speech to the RCB squad during their first training session suggest a singular focus- becoming the first team to successfully defend an IPL title since 2020.
3 Historic milestones in Kohli’s crosshairs
While the travel rumours provided temporary noise, the data points for IPL 2026 suggest Kohli is on the verge of a statistical peak never seen before in T20 history.
The 9,000-run IPL frontier
Kohli enters the season with 8,661 runs. He needs exactly 339 runs to become the first-ever player to breach the 9,000-run mark in IPL history. Given his 2025 form (657 runs at 54.75), this milestone is projected to fall within the first seven games of the season.
The ‘One Franchise’ 10,000-Run Club
Having amassed 9,085 runs for RCB across the IPL and the now-defunct Champions League T20, Kohli is 915 runs away from becoming the first player in world cricket to score 10,000 runs for a single T20 franchise.
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Joining the 14,000-run global elite
With 13,543 career T20 runs, Kohli is just 457 runs shy of joining the ultra-exclusive 14,000-run club. Only four players—Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales, and David Warner have crossed this threshold.
Kohli’s fearless version
The most dangerous version of Virat Kohli is one playing without the ‘elusive trophy’ pressure. After RCB’s 2025 title win, Kohli’s recent net sessions have shown a significant shift toward aggressive aerial hitting, a sign that he is looking to upgrade his 144.71 strike rate from last year.