The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 opener between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad turned out to be a one-sided contest with the defending champions chasing down the target of 202 quite easily, owing to half-centuries by Virat Kohli (69*) and Devdutt Padikkal (61). However, the biggest talking point from the season opener remains the dismissal of Hyderabad batter Heinrich Klaasen. Plenty of polarising opinions are coming in about the legality of Phil Salt’s catch, and now former England captain Michael Vaughan has also jumped in.
Salt’s effort at the boundary ropes cut short Klaasen’s knock, and the partnership of 97 runs for the fourth wicket with skipper Ishan Kishan came to an end. However, Vaughan feels that Salt touched the boundary ropes during his tumbling effort to catch the ball. He also said that the third umpire could have looked at more angles before arriving at his final verdict of ‘OUT’.
“Looked to me like the foot had touched the boundary sponge to me … that’s a big call for RCB .. #IPL2626 .. Not sure how you can give that out and be absolutely sure no part of the foot touched the sponge .. and the sponge moved .. a bit of a giveaway,” Vaughan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Speaking of Klaasen’s dismissal, Salt plucked the ball out of thin air at the midwicket boundary. After taking the catch, he went down as he didn’t manage to stay on his feet. The call was then referred to the third umpire. The replays didn’t seem conclusive, as it was hard to tell whether any part of Salt’s body touched the ropes.
The official Rohan Pandit said, “I don’t see any movement of the cushions”, before arriving at his final verdict of OUT. The home crowd was delighted; however, the South Africa wicketkeeper wasn’t pleased as he was seen having a word with the fourth umpire before walking back to the dressing room.
This dismissal off the bowling of Romario Shephard ended Klaasen’s innings on 31.
Jacob Duffy the standout performer
RCB pacer Jacob Duffy, who had a torrid time in the T20 World Cup 2026, was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his three wickets inside the powerplay. The speedster dismissed Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Ishan Kishan’s 80-run knock off 38 balls propelled SRH to 201; however, the total wasn’t enough.
Kohli and Padikkal put on 101 runs for the second wicket off just 45 balls to help the hosts chase down the total quite easily. Skipper Rajat Patidar also played a 12-ball cameo of 31 to help RCB start the season off on the ultimate high.
In the end, Kohli and Tim David remained unbeaten on 69 and 16 to take the RCB over the line with 26 balls to spare and six wickets in hand.
