RCB vs DC Injury News: Are Virat Kohli, Mitchell Starc Playing Today’s IPL Match? Check Latest Updates

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The 26th match of the Indian Premier League 2026 will witness a battle between the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Delhi Capitals on April 18, Saturday, in the first double-header of the day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB have had a dominant start to their campaign, currently sitting in second place with 8 points from five matches. Under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, they have won four of their first five games. On the other hand, the Delhi Capitals have had a mixed start to their campaign, residing sixth on the points table with 4 points from four matches. Once again, it is the Indian  cricket great Virat Kohli carrying things on his shoulders for RCB, scoring 228 runs and already holding the Orange Cap (now replaced by Shubman Gill). However, in the last match against LSG, he admitted to suffering from knee pain. So, will he be playing today? Meanwhile, for DC, will they bring Mitchell Starc in to change their momentum? Check below.

Virat Kohli – Playing Today As Impact Player

The Indian cricket maestro has not fielded for the past two fixtures as he is not physically 100% fit. However, ahead of their sixth match of the season against DC, Kohli was seen having a short fielding drill on the eve of the game and also had a full batting session. Despite that, for today’s match, it is expected that RCB may choose not to field him like the previous match and use him as an Impact Player.

In the match against LSG, Kohli was introduced as an Impact Player for the first time in his IPL career, where he scored 49 runs off 34 balls. After the match, he said, “I’m still not 100%. My knee was a bit sore last game. Even health-wise, I’ve been under the weather for four or five days now. So yeah, just getting back up to my best.”

Mitchell Starc – Not Playing Today

The Delhi Capitals are desperate to field their left-arm fast bowler, who can also contribute as a lower-order left-handed batter. However, unfortunately, he is still not fit to play and is yet to join the squad. He is recovering from shoulder and elbow injuries sustained during the 2025–26 Australian summer. As of now, he has not formally joined the team and is currently recovering back home in Australia.

RCB vs DC Probable Playing XIs:

RCB: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood/Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar

DC: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar