In the IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) emerged victorious by 18 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
During the match, stalwart Virat Kohli scored 50 runs in 38 balls. His knock was laced with five boundaries and a maximum.
Reflecting on his knock, former Team India cricketer Harbhajan Singh said that the right-handed batsman was not fully satisfied despite scoring a half-century, but he played a crucial role.
“Virat Kohli`s half-century came at a slightly slower pace. You could see he wasn`t fully satisfied, especially with the way Phil Salt was scoring at the other end. But his role was crucial. He ensured there were no early wickets and provided stability at the top,” he said on JioHotstar.
Further speaking the former cricketer said that Kohli allowed Rajat Patidar and Phil Salt to play their natural game, and also made sure to capitalise on other bowlers whenever there was an opportunity.
“While players like Rajat Patidar and Salt played more aggressively, Kohli anchored the innings and allowed them to play their natural game. Against someone like Jasprit Bumrah, he was very cautious and played him intelligently, but he made sure to capitalise on the other bowlers whenever there was an opportunity,” said Harbhajan.
Following the win, RCB is placed in the third position on the points table. With three wins and one loss, the Rajat Patidar-led team has a net run rate (NRR) of +1.148 and six points.
The Royal Challengers` next game is against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 15 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Lucknow Super Giants: Full Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Himmar Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), M Siddharth, Moshin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Abdul Samad, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, M Choudhary (WK), Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi.
(With ANI Inputs)
