Virat Kohli's controversial dismissal was one of the talking points of the thrilling encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens on Sunday (April 21).
Chasing 223 to win, the RCB star came out all guns blazing as he smashed Harshit Rana for a boundary and six in the very first over and followed it with another maximum against Mitchell Starc in the second over.
However, the right-hander was caught and bowled by Rana for 18 off 7 balls in the first delivery of the third over. The ball seemed to have gone above the waist-line and Kohli called for a no-ball, but it was not given and the third umpire also did not give it a no-ball and adjudged him out.
Replays suggested that the ball would have been below waist-high at the popping crease. However, when Virat, who was well ahead of the popping crease, hit the ball, it appeared above his waist.
After being declared out, Virat Kohli had a heated exchange with the on-field umpires and expressed his displeasure before making his way back to the pavilion.
Kohli’s dismissal also left former India cricketer-turned-commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu. "You want to get Virat Kohli out throwing a beamer and want me to welcome it, not at all. 'Chaati thok ke kehta hun' he was not out and this is not good for the spirit of the game. If a law is bad, it has to be changed with time," Sidhu said on-air.
Former RCB batter and South African legend AB de Villiers also came out in support of Kohli with a post on social media platform X.
"Grey areas in the game open up room for anger and confusion. It’s not a tough fix this. Get the batter’s stance, draw the lines and use ball tracking. No confusion whatsoever," De Villiers' post read.
Virat Kohli’s dismissal also divided opinions among the former cricketers and experts. While Mohammad Kaif felt it was an unfair call, the likes of Irfan Pathan and Aakash Chopra opined that the right decision was made by the umpires.
Here are the reactions:
Coming to the match, RCB suffered an agonizing one-run defeat at the hands of KKR in a high-scoring affair.
Despite losing Kohli and Du Plessis (7) cheaply, RCB rode on a 102-run stand between Rajat Patidar (52 off 23) and Will Jacks (55 off 32) to bounce back. However, Andre Russell dismissed both of them in the 12th over to detail the chase.
Subsequently, Cameron Green (4) and Mahipal Lomror (6) were dismissed by Sunil Narine in the same over as RCB slipped to 155/6. Dinesh Karthik (25 off 18) and Karn Sharma (20 off 7) came up with valiant efforts. Karn hit Mitchell Starc for three sixes in the final over, but KKR managed to hold their nerves to get over the line by a whisker.
