Legendary Indian batter Virat Kohli got an early lifeline in match 11 of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026), which is being played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, on April 5 (Sunday).
CSK’s all-rounder dropped a catch in the third over as the ball popped out of his hand, and a chance to dismiss the star batter early in the match. He did capitalise on it and scored some good shots and quick runs, but then got out in the fifth over, and Dube was the man to take his catch.
Shivam Dube Corrects His Mistake
The CSK star got another opportunity to correct his mistake in the 5th over, and this time he made no mistake and took a comfortable catch to send back the former RCB captain. Kohli was on 7 when he was first dropped, and before returning to the dugout, he had scored 28 runs off 18 balls with 2 fours and a six. He even gave his team a push in the slow outfield of Chinnaswamy.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first. Neither team made any change in their line-up. Whereas RCB was coming into this match after winning the season opener against SRH, CSK had suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of RR and PBKS.
“We will bowl first. Obviously, high scoring ground. Looks like a good pitch, there’s going to be some runs. We’ll look to restrict them as much as possible. MS is getting back slowly; sometimes it takes time, if he’s ready to play, it’ll be soon. The first game was disappointing, but our batting was much better in the second game. Everyone is feeling confident. Same team for us,” said Ruturaj Gaikwad after winning the toss.
“We were looking to bowl first, but it looks like a hard pitch, so we’re happy to bat. It’s a fresh wicket. The boys played well in the last game and we’re looking to continue here. The way everyone played in the last game was tremendous, everyone had clarity in their role and they are high in confidence. We’re going with the same side,” said Rajat Patidar at the toss.
Both teams will be eager to pick up a big win. For RCB, it will extend their winning momentum, and for CSK, it will be crucial to revive their confidence and campaign.