Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered yet another defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, losing to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 1 run in an exciting match. The narrow defeat summed up this close game. What made the battle even more intense was the controversial dismissal of Virat Kohli, who was caught off guard by KKR pacer Harshit Rana after being troubled by a full toss above the waist. Catch and pitch. Despite reviewing the call, Kohli remained absent but that did not stop him from discussing the matter with the umpire.

Kohli had a heated exchange with the umpire on the field and then vented his frustration in a dustbin near the RCB dugout. However, the star batsman had no choice but to return to the dressing room and leave the chase to his teammates.

When the match ended with RCB losing by 1 run, Kohli was spotted talking to another official who tried to explain why Harshit’s delivery was labeled “legal”. The lively chat continued for several minutes with Kohli appearing to argue his point. Here is the video:

Virat Kohli spoke to the umpires after the match. pic.twitter.com/mya45sbKW2

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 21, 2024

After the match, RCB captain Faf du Plessis admitted that there was nothing we could do about the controversy as Virat was sent off as per the “rules” of the game.

“It’s crazy, rules are rules, both Virat and myself thought the ball was above waist level (when Kohli was dismissed) and I guess they measured it from the crease as it popped up and one team thought It was high and the other team wasn’t and that’s why the games were going on sometimes (the Jax-Patidar partnership) but when you don’t win too many games, that’s it. There will be some kind of panic and the end of Narine will be a game changer.

“You feel like you don’t have time to settle down and bat (about the evolution of this IPL season), the game doesn’t allow that and obviously you have an extra batsman but in a chase like this you have to keep going against. Narine’s game, I thought the game changed and I was proud of the guys tonight, the way we pitched and defended, we did give up some big goals towards the end of the game and the score changed for us, but. I think we kept the score within par,” Du Plessis said after the game.