Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Virat Kohli will be looking to return to form in the Indian Premier League 2026 after two consecutive ducks, as he prepares to face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the challenge of facing the experienced spinner Sunil Narine.

Kohli has demonstrated aggressive intent in the powerplay this season, but recent failures have interrupted his progress.

The 37-year-old batter, who retired from international T20 cricket, remains IPL’s leading run-getter and holds an impressive record against the three-time champions KKR. He has accumulated 1,021 runs in 36 matches and 33 innings versus KKR, maintaining an average of 39.26 and a strike rate of 132.94, including one century and seven fifties. In his last five innings against KKR, Kohli’s scores include 21, 54, 83 not out, 18, and 59 not out.

Sunil Narine, one of only three bowlers to have taken 200 wickets in the IPL, presents a formidable challenge. Narine has dismissed Kohli four times in 21 innings and has restricted his scoring. Kohli has scored 171 runs from 168 balls against Narine, at a strike rate slightly above 101, hitting 12 fours, two sixes, and facing 57 dot balls.

This season, Kohli has scored 379 runs in 11 matches with an average of 42.11 and a strike rate of 163.36, including three fifties. Narine has taken 10 wickets in nine matches, with an average of 22.80 and an economy rate of 6.51, which is instrumental in applying pressure on batters.

The squads for the upcoming match include:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Blessing Muzarabani, Matheesha Pathirana, Rahul Tripathi, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Saurabh Dubey, Umran Malik, Daksh Kamra.