IPL 2026 | Virat Kohli responds to trolls who call him 'overseas' player

Modern day great Virat Kohli is back in action representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League for yet another season with the franchise.

He created immediate impact with a match-winning knock in the tournament opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad even without having much game time post India's last ODI series in January. He flew to England shortly after and had been away from the public eyes.

The 37-year-old has been living in England with his family, escaping the constant spotlight and attention in India. He returns only during cricket season, which for him are the ODIs and the IPL after having retired from Tests and T20Is.

The former Indian captain has been under the radar on social media for shifting to London, with many trolling him for the move.

Many have termed him as an "overseas player" for living in another country.

In a video with RCB, Kohli responded to the chatter as host Danish Sait, in his popular Mr Nags avatar, quipped, “People are saying RCB are playing five overseas players, I am not understanding what they are saying actually.”

With a grin, Kohli replied, "I don't know, why are you asking me? Ask the overseas players. I am not an overseas player. Am I an overseas player?"

The joke comes from the rule that a maximum of four overseas players are allowed in a playing 11 in the IPL. With Kohli now spending most of his time in England, fans often joke that he is also an 'overseas player'. 

Further, Kohli also opened up on last year's title winning run -- his and RCB's first in 18 years -- saying, "I had heard of this statement or this saying, 'monkey off the back'. That night I really felt what it means. Everything became light," he said.

After having dominated all three formats and winning most of the tournaments with team India and now RCB, Kohli explained what victory truly means to him.

“Victory is the accumulation of hard work, all the sacrifices you’ve made, to be committed to the sport. It all comes together as a form of assurance, a reward, to know that you haven’t wasted your time. A lot of people learn from losses, but a lot of people can get very disheartened as well. So when you win after a lot of hard work, it makes you feel a sense of justice to the work that you put in, and also gives you motivation to work harder," Kohli said.

Virat Kohli's strong start

Entering IPL 2026 as defending champions, Kohli stamped his authority in the very first match at RCB's home ground M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Chasing 202 to win, the opener played a measured knock of 69 runs off 38 ball, smashing five sixes and as many fours. His unbeaten innings led RCB to the fastest 200-plus chase in IPL history, completing the task in just 15.4 overs.

During the innings, he also surpassed Pakistan's Shoaib Malik to become the Asian cricketer with the most T20 runs. Further, he also became the first player in IPL to register 4,000 runs while chasing.