Kamal Ghorui
Virat Kohli endured another rare batting failure in IPL 2026 after falling for a golden duck against Mumbai Indians during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s chase in Raipur on Sunday.The former RCB captain lasted just one ball before being dismissed by Deepak Chahar, who produced a massive breakthrough for Mumbai immediately after the innings break.
Attempting to loft the ball over mid-off, Kohli failed to get hold of the shot as the delivery bounced slightly more than expected. The ball struck high on the bat and ballooned towards Raj Bawa, who dived forward to complete a sharp catch.The dismissal marked Kohli’s second consecutive duck in the tournament. In RCB’s previous match against Lucknow Super Giants, Kohli had been cleaned up for a two-ball duck by Prince Yadav.This is also only the second instance in Kohli’s IPL career where he has registered ducks in successive innings. The first came back in the 2022 season against LSG and Sunrisers Hyderabad.Mumbai’s breakthrough further added to an unwanted record for Kohli against MI.Most ducks for Virat Kohli against an IPL opponent3 vs Mumbai Indians3 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad2 vs Lucknow Super GiantsChahar continued his superb spell by striking again in the third over, removing Devdutt Padikkal soon after Kohli’s dismissal to leave RCB under pressure early in the chase.Earlier in the evening, Mumbai Indians recovered from a disastrous start to post 166/7 after being asked to bat first on a difficult Raipur surface. Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred with a vintage new-ball spell, dismissing Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav inside the powerplay to leave MI reeling at 28/3.But Tilak Varma anchored the recovery brilliantly with a composed 57 off 42 balls, while Naman Dhir added an important 47. Mumbai eventually finished with what appeared to be a competitive total on a surface offering uneven bounce and assistance for seamers.
