A social media report claiming that Virat Kohli had demanded chartered flight access from Royal Challengers Bengaluru to fly between India and London during match gaps has been firmly dismissed by the man himself — with nothing more than two laughing emojis.
The post, shared by the Instagram page worldinlast24hr, alleged that Kohli had approached the RCB management requesting a private jet arrangement to allow him to visit London whenever there was a break of more than three days between fixtures. The claim spread quickly across social media platforms before Kohli reacted to it on his own Instagram story, resharing the post with a pair of 😂😂 emojis — offering no words, but making his position abundantly clear.
The timing of the report made it particularly easy to dismiss. Kohli had already arrived in Bengaluru on 18 March to join the RCB camp ahead of IPL 2026, which begins on 28 March. He had been spotted at training, with RCB sharing footage of him in the nets looking in sharp touch. The notion that he had simultaneously been negotiating mid-season charter flights to London did not square with the facts on the ground.
It is not the first time Kohli has used social media to swat away inaccurate reporting — and given the volume of fabricated claims that tend to circulate around high-profile players in the lead-up to an IPL season, it is unlikely to be the last. For now, his focus appears to be squarely on defending the title RCB won for the first time last season, not on travel arrangements.
RCB open their campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 28 March.