Virat Kohli celebrates a dismissal during IPL 2026© AFP
Royal Challengers Bengaluru star batter Virat Kohli was left thrilled after Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Priyansh Arya during the IPL 2026 match against Punjab Kings on Sunday. The dismissal came just after Kohli gave a specific advice to Bhuvneshwar about bowling the delivery close to Arya’s body. In the first over of the PBKS run chase, Bhuvneshwar bowled a back-of-the-length ball that Arya failed to connect properly and the batter ended up giving a straight catch to Romario Shepherd at mid-wicket. Kohli was excited after the dismissal and he celebrated it with a fist pump and hugged the bowler.
Virat Kohli tactical masterclass. pic.twitter.com/s4mJggSEX6
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 17, 2026
Coming to the match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru rode on fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer, along with a decisive opening spell from pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to thrash Punjab Kings by 23 runs and seal a playoff berth.
Kohli (58 off 37 balls), Iyer (73 not out off 40 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (45) produced impactful knocks as RCB piled up 222 for 4 in 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar (2/38) then removed the dangerous Punjab Kings opening pair of Priyansh Arya (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (2) early to all but shut the door on the opposition, who eventually managed 199 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Pacer Rasikh Salam (3/36) compounded Punjab Kings’ misery by dismissing skipper Shreyas Iyer (1) in the fourth over as the hosts slumped to 19 for 3.
Late-order batters Shashank Singh (56 off 27 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (37 off 25 balls) attempted to revive the innings with a counter-attacking effort, but the towering RCB total ultimately proved far beyond PBKS’ reach.
Earlier, Kohli stitched together a 76-run stand with Devdutt for the second wicket to lay the foundation before adding another 60 runs with Venkatesh for the third wicket as table-toppers RCB delivered yet another authoritative batting display.
(With PTI inputs)
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