Virat Kohli joins RCB training camp, spotted playing football with Glenn Maxwell: Watch

Virat Kohli (Pic: AFP)

Talisman Virat Kohli on Monday made his first appearance in the training session of his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the IPL 2024 beginning March 22.

Kohli, who was out of the country for the birth of his second child, arrived in India on Sunday. The former India and RCB captain was seen taking rounds of the Chinnaswamy Stadium as part of his warm-up. Skipper Faf du Plessis also attended the session.

RCB, who have never won the IPL, begin their campaign against reigning champions Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on Friday. Kohli's performance in the lucrative T20 league will be closely tracked as the event precedes the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean. The 35-year-old played his first T20 since the 2022 World Cup back in January against Afghanistan.

Skipper Rohit Sharma also made a comeback in that series and is expected to lead India in the T20 World Cup beginning June 1. Kohli also missed the five-match home Test series against England due to his family commitments. The batting great had a memorable IPL last year, aggregating 639 runs including two hundreds and six half-centuries.

RCB, on Monday, took to Instagram to announce the arrival of Kohli and captioned it, "Too much happening too quickly and we're not slowing down. Is he here?"

On Sunday night, he was spotted at the Mumbai airport as he had to catch a flight to Bangalore to join his team for the upcoming match of IPL 2024. He was seen donning his cool white T-shirt, which featured a huge illustration of a cute cartoon character and had the word 'Dad' written on it.

Kohli who missed India's 4-1 Test series triumph over England was recently blessed with a baby boy, Akaay. In 237 appearances for RCB in the IPL, Kohli has amassed 7,263 runs at an average of 37.2 and a strike rate of 130.0 and is the leading run-scorer in the history of the competition.

His best score of 113 came against Punjab Kings in 2016 which propelled RCB to a massive score of 211/3. Kohli is yet to lift an IPL trophy with RCB in the past 16 seasons and he will be looking to secure the maiden title in the IPL 2024.

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RCB strengthened their squad in the IPL 2024 auction by acquiring the services of foreign and Indian talent which includes Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan.

RCB will kick off their campaign in the season opener clash against Chennai Super Kings on Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

RCB IPL 2024 squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

(With agency inputs)