In the ongoing IPL 2026 competition, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 9 runs (using the DLS method) on May 7, 2026. This victory hurt RCB's campaign and kept LSG in the running for the postseason.
Mitchell Marsh scored 111, Nicholas Pooran scored 38, and Rishabh Pant scored 32* in 10 balls as LSG batted first in a rain-shortened 19 overs-a-side match.
Despite Rajat Patidar's 61 and a late push by Tim David (40), Krunal Pandya (28*), and Romario Shepherd (23*), the RCB batters failed to get any momentum in response. In ten overs, RCB only achieved 203/6.
One of the major setbacks for the defending champions chasing 213 was Virat Kohli falling for a 2-ball duck.
Kohli was cleaned bowled by Prince Yadav with a jaffer of a delivery. The ball uprooted Kohli's off-stump after hitting the pitch on the straight seam and cutting back in. By all accounts, the delivery was flawless. However, Kohli appeared dazed and stared at the ball's pitching location as though something wasn't right.
Sanjay Manjrekar has a hunch about why Kohli did that, and he emphasizes his case by mentioning Sachin Tendulkar. In the latter part of his career, the master blaster used to follow suit.
“Virat Kohli getting clean bowled by Prince Yadav gives me a great insight into a champion batter's mind. It was the same with Tendulkar. It's not so much about how we got out. Look at Virat's reaction when he gets out. The moment he gets out, he looks down at the pitch as if something untoward has happened. The pitch has played some trick on him.
Tendulkar did that too, more so towards the end of his career; he would look down at the pitch and would think that the ball had kept low. And, you know, something wrong happened there. So what is happening here? The moment there is a little setback like that, they aren't immediately looking within or being self-critical,” Manjrekar said in a video on Instagram.
“They're looking at other reasons apart from themselves. for what happened. And that, interestingly, is the trait of a great batter, because they've had such tremendous success over the years, their self-confidence is very high. So when they have a moment like this, that self-confidence doesn't dip quickly.
With lesser mortals, when something like this happens, self-confidence gets shattered. They think, oh, dear, too slow and not a good enough player to defend that ball. Great batters will instinctively find another reason because their faith in their own ability is so high.
And that is one reason why great batters are great as opposed to lesser mortals, who lose their confidence easily. So one big difference between a great player and a not-so-great player is that the great players handle their failures a lot better than the lesser player. And we saw in that reaction of Virat's and Sachin Tendulkar’s reaction in the past that instinct is an important trait to be great,” Manjrekar stated.
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RCB will next play MI in Raipur on May 10.
