Virat Kohli Messes Up Tough Catch Opportunity With RCB Teammate Also In The Mix

21.04.2023 - 10:33 sports.ndtv.com

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered a moral boosting win in IPL 2023 on Thursday, beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 24 runs at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

With this win, RCB climbed into the top half of the points table and occupy the fifth spot. Chasing a target of 175, PBKS were bowled out for 150 in 18.2 overs, with Mohammed Siraj taking four wickets.

Virat Kohli, who was RCB's stand-in captain for the match, registered his 48th half-century, made an absolute mess of a catch during PBKS' 175-run chase.

The incident happened on the last ball of the 17th over when Harshal Patel bowled a juicy full toss to Jitesh Sharma, who miscued and skied the ball.

cricket Virat Kohli Faf Du Plessis Bangalore

It seems that the clash between Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq and India batter Virat Kohli is not going to die down anytime soon. Notably, both the players were involved in a war of words during Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium last week. The issue escalated so much that the two players not only confronted each other during the match, but also gave rise to a spat after the game as well.

'Virat Kohli's RCB Would've Won 3 IPLs If MS Dhoni Led Them': Pakistan Legend

Despite being part of the tournament since its inaugural season in 2008, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are one of the few teams yet to win the Indian Premier League title. Notably, RCB has played three IPL finals -- in 2009 (Deccan Chargers), 2011 (Chennai Super Kings), and 2016 (SunRisers Hyderabad) seasons -- but ended up losing on all three occasions. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that RCB would have won three IPL titles if MS Dhoni was their captain.

Watch: Virat Kohli Sparks Laughter Riot In Refreshing Post-Match Scenes From DC vs RCB Game

After the ugly post-match scenes from the Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match in the Indian Premier League 2023, some refreshing moments emerged from the second match on Saturday. Though Virat Kohli's homecoming was spoiled by Delhi Capitals' 7-wicket victory, the RCB stalwart was in a jolly mood as he spoke to Ishant Sharma and a few other DC players after the game. The bond that Virat and Ishant share goes back years, and their camaraderie was quite visible at the Arun Jaitley Stadium after the match.

Watch: Virat Kohli Meets Childhood Coach, Shares Sweet Moment Ahead Of DC vs RCB Game

Virat Kohli returned to his hometown ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Ahead of the game, Kohli caught up with his childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, and touched his feet. A video of the same has been doing rounds on social media. "A wholesome meet & greet. @imVkohli catches up with his childhood coach," the video was captioned by IPL on their official Twitter handle.

IPL 2023: Ex India Star Wants Virat Kohli To Score Ton As "Great Tribute To" Sourav Ganguly As RCB Meet DC Again After "No-Handshake" Episode

In Delhi Capitals' IPL 2023 first leg meeting against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the most talked about subject was one incident that actually happened after the game ended. After that game between Delhi Capitals, where ex-India captain Ganguly is working as 'Director of Cricket', and Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore, several videos of them went viral, which led to social media users saying that the duo might be avoiding each other. In one of the videos, with players and staff of both the teams lined up for doing customary post-match handshakes, Ganguly could be seen jumping the queue as DC coach Ricky Ponting was talking to Virat Kohli. Several Twitter users thought that the duo was deliberately avoiding each other.

In Pics: From Naveen-ul-Haq To Gautam Gambhir, The Sequence Of Virat Kohli's On-Field Battles In LSG vs RCB Clash

Royal Challengers Bangalore superstar Virat Kohli and former opener Gautam Gambhir added another chapter to their bitter rivalry as they got involved in an ugly face-off after the Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants on Monday. While it was the Kohli vs Gambhir battle that became the central talking point after the match, the RCB batter was involved in multiple altercations during the game too. First with Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq and then with compatriot Amit Mishra, Kohli remained a busy man on the field.