Hold the pose
A straight six. After all the innovations that T20 cricket has witnessed over the last decade or so, there is nothing quite like a lofted drive down the ground that carries all the way. Virat Kohli produced one for the highlight reel in the 7th over, as he took on Eshan Malinga. It was in the slot alright, fully deserved to be hit for a six but Kohli chose to throw in some royal elegance into the mix. After shuffling towards the offside for an early trigger, once Kohli saw it was in his hitting arc, he unfurled a check drive. The ball couldn’t have hit a sweeter spot in the bat and Kohli didn’t even need to complete his full follow-through – just held his elbow high, the bat’s maker’s name in full view, and caressed the ball for an 86m six, and held the pose. Shot of a master.
– Vinayakk Mohanarangan
Elegance 🤝 Authority
🎥 Virat Kohli treating Bengaluru with his masterclass 👌
Which was your favourite out of the two? ✍️
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/Eo5z0jh4K4 #TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #RCBvSRH | @RCBTweets | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/7PDI6SldbD
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 28, 2026
The juggle act
Had the breeze at the Chinnaswamy stadium blown stronger or his fabric been thicker, Phil Salt’s jersey would have brushed the boundary cushion. No more than millimetres separated him and the ropes when he juggled a catch of Heinrich Klaasen. The SRH batsman had sledgehammered Romario Shepherd’s off-cutter towards midwicket, the shorter side of the stadium. Salt sprinted a few yards sideways to get under the ball, but he was dangerously close to the ropes. He hunkered down to devour it, but it bounced off his palms. In the balancing act he slipped, flipped and found himself on his back, like a yoga practitioner. The third umpire’s verdict was sought. He wanted an aerial view of the backside. He didn’t get one. But with the replays at his disposal, he had little conclusive evidence that some part of his body or cloth had touched the ropes. The on-screen telly flashed out and the crowd roared. Klaasen was shocked and walked off shaking his head. Salt and pals were ecstatic.
– Sandip G
What a way to announce your arrival in the #TATAIPL! 🔥#RCB fans, how would you rate Jacob Duffy’s fiery debut start in the powerplay? ❤️
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/Eo5z0jh4K4 #KhelBindaas | #RCBvSRH | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/83xl62EnDO
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Duffy, the SRH slayer
With the safe-as-a-bank Josh Hazlewood out injured, defending champions RCB had to find someone to fill his big bowling shoes. A master of line and length, the tall Australian scalped 22 wickets in RCB’s title-winning campaign. And signs are that RCB seemed to have picked the right replacement in Jacob Duffy. The tall New Zealander had a dream start, taking three wickets, including gun batsmen Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in the same over. Abhishek paid the price for trying to force a pull shot to a ball he should have hit through the off-side. The pull shot has been the India opener’s weakness but he couldn’t resist even though the ball didn’t bounce enough for a clean hit. Travis Head, another left-hander, will rue hitting the ball to Phil Salt positioned at deep square leg. Duffy’s delivery into the wicket didn’t come onto the bat as quickly as Head thought it would, Salt took a fine outfield catch. Nitish Kumar Reddy also tried to play the pull shot but mistimed it and was caught. Four overs done in one spell, Duffy was subbed out and in walked Devdutt Padikkal as the impact player. Talk about making a good first impression in the quickest time on IPL debut.
– Nihal Koshie
Salt sprinkles magic
RCB have had some gun fielders in their ranks over the years and Phil Salt can comfortably join that elite list now after taking a stunning catch to dismiss the red-hot Ishan Kishan. In what will be a clear-cut contender for catch of the season even on the first night of the season, Salt sprinkled some magic dust onto the proceedings at Chinnaswamy Stadium in the 16th over. The wicket will belong to Abhinandan Singh, his first in IPL, but really it was all down to the Englishman. He ran to the right at deep backward point, flung himself to his right, put out his right hand, and completed a one-handed stunner. One of the replays showed a ball-kid sitting beyond the boundary rope put his hands on the top of his head and the jaws were wide open in amazement. Jitesh Sharma, the RCB wicketkeeper, had a similar reaction too.
– Vinayakk Mohanarangan
𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒! 🛑
🎥 Phil Salt with an absolute one-handed screamer at the ropes 🫡
Do we already have the Catch of the Season on Day 1 of #TATAIPL 2026 🤔
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/Eo5z0jh4K4 #KhelBindaas | #RCBvSRH |… pic.twitter.com/pPax3pVNt9
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 28, 2026
Kishan’s horror night with gloves
If something encapsulated SRH’s travails on the field, it was the horror night stand-in skipper had behind the stumps. As the RCB assault gained momentum, the pressure of the situation seemingly forced Ishan Kishan into two basic wicketkeeping errors. The first one could be excused as Jaydev Unadkat’s high bouncer, which beat Devdutt Padikkal’s swipe, became a leg-cutter as it approached Kishan on the second bounce. He was flat-footed and his poor body position didn’t allow him to adjust and prevent the ball from going for four byes. The second was even worse as the ball didn’t deviate sideways. Padikkal had missed a cut shot off a short Harshal Patel delivery, but what should have been a routine stop went between Kishan’s legs as he failed to bend down properly. The improvement in Kishan’s batting has been through the roof – exemplified by his 38-ball 80 earlier in the innings – but his twin errors behind the stumps resulted in SRH heads going down, and they never got up.
– Tushar Bhaduri
