- By Namrata Vijay
- Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:10 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
RCB vs LSG IPL 2026: Virat Kohli is part of the impact player list during their IPL 2026 match against Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday. He had sustained an ankle injury in their match against the Mumbai Indians last week and didn't enter the ground in the second innings. Although he attended the practice session the day before the match, he was cleared to play.
The Bengaluru-based franchise won the toss and chose to bowl first, allowing them to use Kohli in the second innings. Chances are high that he might enter the ground towards the end of the first innings in place of one of the bowlers. The reigning champions also included Josh Hazlewood in their playing XI, who gave the clash against MI a miss. Hazlewood was taken to the cleaners by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during his comeback match, and that's why he was dropped from the match against the Hardik Pandya-led side.
The Rajat Patidar-led side had picked Jacob Duffy instead of Josh Hazlewood for that match. Rasikh Salam also recovered well in time to feature in the ongoing match after struggling against MI. The Rishabh Pant-led side has fielded the same playing XI as against GT, with George Linde as the impact sub.
RCB VS LSG: PLAYING XIS AND IMPACT SUBS
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Playing XI: Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam, Josh Hazlewood
Impact subs:
Lucknow Super Giants: Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Mayank Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth, George Linde
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Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Kanishk Chouhan
IS KOHLI A FAN OF IMPACT PLAYER RULE?
Kohli is among those players who don't support the impact player rule, which was first implemented during IPL 2024. The star RCB batter is of the view that this rule has led to an imbalance in this tournament between bat and ball.
"I say it how it is. If you look at this IPL, okay, entertainment is on one side, but the bowlers feel they should do what to restrict the batters. I have never experienced anything like it where bowlers think they will concede a four or a six every ball. This is a very high level of cricket, and in my opinion, it shouldn't be that dominant [in one aspect]. There is a beauty in having an equal battle between bat and ball", Kohli was quoted as saying to Jio Cinema.
"Not every team has a [Jasprit] Bumrah or a Rashid Khan or a mystery bowler. So what will you do? I am telling you, one extra batter is the reason why I am playing with a 200-plus strike rate in the power play. I know a batsman is coming in at No. 8 as well", he added.
"As a batsman, I can say this rule is good, but the match should be exciting. Only fours and sixes are not exciting in cricket. It's exciting that you can defend 160 as well. So I think a bit of balance has been tipped over," he concluded.
It's the first time Kohli will play as an impact sub during a match.