IPL 2026 kicks off on March 28 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru face Sunrisers Hyderabad in what promises to be one of the most eagerly anticipated opening nights in the tournament’s history. RCB enter the season for the first time as champions, having lifted their maiden IPL trophy in 2025, and the noise around their campaign this year has already started with a bold prediction from within the dressing room itself.
RCB wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, speaking on a podcast with Ranveer Allahbadia, was asked who he thought could win the Orange Cap in IPL 2026. His answer required no deliberation. Virat Kohli, no doubt, Jitesh said. And then he went further. He said Kohli could break the highest-ever runs record in an IPL season.
That is not a small claim. The record Jitesh is referring to belongs to Kohli himself.
The Record That Has Stood Since 2016
In the 2016 IPL season, Virat Kohli produced one of the greatest individual batting performances in the history of the Twenty20 format. He scored 973 runs in a single edition, an achievement that remains unmatched a decade later. No batter in the history of the IPL has come close to that number in a single season. The record has survived through ten subsequent editions of the tournament, multiple format evolutions, and the emergence of some of the world’s most destructive batting talents.
Jitesh Sharma is suggesting that the man who set that record is now, at an age when most cricketers have declined from their peak, capable of surpassing it.
Why the Prediction Is Not Unreasonable
Context matters here. In IPL 2025, the season in which RCB won their first title, Kohli scored 657 runs at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71. He finished among the top run-getters of the tournament and played a central role in RCB’s championship campaign. These are not the numbers of a player in decline. They are the numbers of a player in the form of his life.
Jitesh, who sees Kohli in training and in the dressing room every day, spoke specifically about the batter’s form during India’s international fixtures leading into IPL 2026. The way he was batting for India, he looked in sublime touch, Jitesh said. He also praised Kohli’s unique aura and indomitable spirit, describing the former India captain’s impact on the team and the game as something that cannot be quantified in statistics alone.
Kohli has won the Orange Cap twice in his IPL career, in 2016 when he scored those record 973 runs and in 2024. He is the leading run scorer in the history of the IPL with over 8,000 runs across all editions, a number that is likely to grow significantly with every season he continues at the top level.
Jitesh also acknowledged Kohli’s fitness standards specifically, noting that the former India captain has set a culture within the team where fitness is non-negotiable. At an age when most cricketers are managing their bodies carefully, Kohli’s physical condition remains a competitive advantage that extends his peak beyond what conventional wisdom about cricketing careers would suggest.
The Context of the Opening Match
RCB versus SRH on March 28 at Chinnaswamy carries additional emotional weight beyond just being the season opener. The stadium returns to IPL cricket under shadow of the tragic stampede during RCB’s title celebrations last June that claimed 11 lives. In a gesture of remembrance, RCB and the Karnataka State Cricket Association will reserve 11 seats and install a memorial plaque to honour the victims. The Karnataka government granted clearance for the stadium to host matches only after thorough infrastructure and security checks.
The opening match kicks off at 3:30 PM IST on March 28. Rajat Patidar continues as RCB’s captain for the 2026 season. The squad has been strengthened with signings including Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, Josh Hazlewood, and Krunal Pandya as RCB aim to do something that only two franchises have managed in IPL history: defend a title.
If Jitesh Sharma’s prediction has any basis in what he sees in training, Kohli’s campaign beginning on Saturday evening at a packed Chinnaswamy could be one of the most compelling individual stories of IPL 2026. A man chasing a record he himself set, in a season where his team is defending a championship, at a stadium carrying the weight of memory and celebration simultaneously.
Dark horses always sneak in every season, Jitesh said. But Kohli, he suggested, is no dark horse. He is the favourite. And the numbers say that prediction deserves to be taken seriously.