Virat Kohli gave fans a rare and entertaining glimpse into Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s training session ahead of IPL 2026, as he was spotted bowling in the nets to his opening partner Phil Salt. The light-hearted moment, captured on video at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, quickly went viral on social media, adding to the buzz ahead of RCB’s season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Kohli and Salt have emerged as one of the most dynamic opening pairs in the Indian Premier League, playing a key role in RCB’s historic title-winning campaign last season. Their contrasting styles — Salt’s aggressive strokeplay and Kohli’s composed anchoring — have consistently provided the team with strong starts at the top of the order.
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In just 13 innings together, the duo accumulated an impressive 565 runs, underlining their impact. One of their standout performances came against Kolkata Knight Riders, where they stitched a rapid 95-run partnership in under nine overs while chasing 175. Salt led the charge with a fluent 56, while Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten 59.
𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙮 🤝 𝙑𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙪𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚. 🥹
Virat throwing it down to Salt…openers looking out for each other already. 🤩
It’s these 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 that matter over a long campaign. ❤️🔥
🎥 Enjoy the full video on… pic.twitter.com/JxZqIi6mgG
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 24, 2026
They followed it up with another dominant display against the Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. The pair added 92 runs for the opening wicket in a comfortable nine-wicket win, with Salt smashing 65 and Kohli once again finishing unbeaten on 62.
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Despite their success, there have been recent concerns over Salt’s form following a quiet outing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, where he managed just 130 runs in eight matches. However, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, dismissed any doubts, backing Salt’s quality and confidence.
With IPL 2026 set to begin, RCB will be hoping their trusted opening combination fires once again, as they look to build on last season’s success.
