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In an unsavoury moment after Virat Kohli got the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) off to a brisk start in pursuit of 223 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the former India skipper and the marquee batter fell to a controversial on-field call after fending off what appeared to be a beamer straight back to paceman Harshit Rana.
Not amused after being given out by the on-field umpires, Vitar referred the decision to the third umpire. However, after going over the replays, the third umpire upheld the on-field decision, giving him out. Furious at being adjudged out, Virat was seen remonstrating on the field and started walking off in anger as the Knights rejoiced. Television replays showed the ball appearing to go over his waistline as Kohli offered a miscued shot back to the bowler, who accepted it gleefully. Former India cricketer and a commentator for the ongoing IPL edition, Navjot Sidhu, who was on air at the time, said Kohli should have been given the benefit of doubt and the delivery should have been adjudged a 'no ball' as it was a 'beamer'. Before walking back in a huff, Virat was seen charging at one of the on-field umpires and contesting his dismissal. As he stormed back to the pavilion, the marquee batter was seen smashing his willow on the ground and hitting a trash can with his gloves, causing it to tumble. However, despite showing early promise and the RCB off to a flier with a flurry of boundaries, Virat's poor run in the team's green jersey continued, as he fell for just 18 runs off seven balls at one of his happy hunting grounds, the Eden Gardens. Leading the stiff chase of 223, Virat looked in fine nick, striking Rana and Mitchell Starc for two sixes and a four. Virat straightaway signalled for a DRS review after being adjudged out. However, from the benefit of television replays, third umpire Michael Gough determined that the ball had dipped substantially below Virat's waistline for him to be given out. However, he had to eventually accept the decision and walk off. In his three recent games for the Challengers in their Green jersey, a colour donned by the franchise as a part of their 'Go Green' initiative, Virat registered golden ducks against Sunrisers Hyderabad (2022) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) and now 18 runs against KKR. Coming to the match, RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis won the toss and elected to field first. Phil Salt's explosive 48 off 14 balls, studded with seven fours and three sixes, saw the two-time champions pick up some extra runs in the powerplay. Even as wickets fell around him, skipper Shreyas Iyer (50 in 36 balls, with seven fours and a six), Rinku Singh (24 in 16 balls, with two fours and a six), in the company of Andre Russell (27* in 20 balls, with four boundaries) and Ramandeep Singh (24* in nine balls, with two fours and two sixes) pushed the scoring rate in the dying overs to take the team to 222/6 in their 20 overs. Cameron Green (2/35) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB, while Yash Dayal also picked up two wickets at the expense of 56 runs. Mohammed Siraj and Lockie Ferguson took a wicket apiece. (ANI)
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