Watch: Utter chaos as Kohli ‘distracted’ by RCB teammate; catch ends in shambles | Cricket

When it comes to ground fielding and catches, Virat Kohli is one of the safest and most reliable hands. However, at the same time, Kohli has been notorious for dropping way too many catches for his liking and Thursday was another example of it. Kohli, RCB’s stand-in captain made an absolute mess of a rather ridiculously catch during their IPL 2023 match against Punjab Kings, although the fault wasn’t entirely his. Kohli was slightly blind-sighted by a converging fielder going for a catch and although he made it clear that the catch was his to take, he ended in shambles dropping a catch he would usually take 11 out of 10 times.

The incident took place in the closing stages of the match, but at a time when PBKS stood a really chance at pulling off a miraculous win. With PBKS slumping to 106/7 in the 13th over, the reason why they were able to take the match into the 19th over Jitesh Sharma and Harpreet Brar had added a resilient 41-run partnership in less than five overs. Jitesh upped the ante by racing away to 41 off 27 balls and RCB really needed to take his wickets to breathe a sigh of relief before Kohli put down a sitter.

The last ball of the 17th over was a full-toss, which Jitesh skied in the air. Kohli, standing at long-on, realised that Suyash Prabhudesai was running in from deep mid-wicket, and immediately put his hands in the air, making it clear that he had it under control. Still, by the time Suyash realised what Kohli had indicated, he had already converged, and Kohli was unable to get underneath the ball. The ball landed in his hands, but lobbed out of it as Kohli struggled to hold on to his balance and Suyash looked on dejected.

Watch Kohli’s drop below:

Matthew Hayden on air was pretty confident that Suyash converging had a role to play in Kohli’s slip-up. “High into the night sky, it’s dark as well. The wind just carrying it forward. Kohli tells Prabhudesai that this ball is mine but then he comes into his field of vision. He has distracted Virat Kohli there. I understand that two players were converging, but surely, despite the call, it tends to distract your vision,” said the former Australia batter.

The drop catch aside, Kohli had a memorable match. He slammed yet another half-century – his fourth of the season and added a century partnership with Faf du Plessis as RCB ended with a 174/4, a lot less than what they were primed for at one stage. Yet, the total was enough for RCB as Mohammed Siraj derailed PBKS’ chase with a four-wicket-haul. Besides, Kohli even celebrated his one-time return to RCB getting a couple of DRS calls spot on.