Ishant Sharma won his battle against Virat Kohli as the DC pacer picked up the prized wicket in the RCB innings.
Virat Kohli was reunited with his long-time India teammate Ishant Sharma when Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bengaluru squared off against Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League season 2024 on Sunday. Leading the pace attack of Rishabh Pant-less Delhi Capitals at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, senior fast bowler Ishant received a pasting at the hands of an on-song Kohli in the powerplay.
Delhi Capitals’ Ishant Sharma (R) celebrates after taking the wicket of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli(AFP)
However, Ishant made amends in the same over as the DC speedster bagged the prized scalp of Kohli. Engaging in a fun banter with Kohli, DC pacer Ishant gave the RCB icon a lavish send-off following his early dismissal in the IPL 2024 match. With Ishant having the last laugh, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody called the duel between the two stalwarts as friendly fire. Moody also admitted that Ishant won his battle against Kohli as the DC pacer picked up the prized wicket in the RCB innings.
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‘This is friendly fire’
“This is friendly fire. They’re very, very good friends. They’ve played a lot of cricket together for India. And Ishant is a gentle giant. Rayudu was telling me off-air how funny he is and how much he adds to a team environment. You can see the laughs between Virat and Ishant. And Ishant got the last laugh, that’s what any bowler would want. At the end of the day, you want to see the back of the batsman, particularly a batsman like Virat Kohli and of that calibre. Virat Kohli’s wicket is a prize wicket for anyone,” Moody told Star Sports.
Kohli scored 27 off 13 balls in his entertaining knock against DC. Ishant got the better of Kohli in the third over of the RCB innings. This was the first time that Ishant bagged the wicket of Kohli in the IPL. Ishant bowled three overs and leaked 31 runs against the hosts. Rajat Patidar played a quick-fire knock of 52 off 32 balls while Cameron Green chipped in with 32 off 24 balls as RCB posted 187-9 in 20 overs. In reply, Axar Patel’s DC side was all out for 140 in 19.1 overs.
