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Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Krunal Pandya opened up about Virat Kohli and the recent struggles of the veteran players in IPL 2026. Although RCB is on top of the points table, Kohli has been out for duck in the last two matches.
After a thrilling last-ball win against Mumbai Indians in Raipur on Sunday, RCB now top the points table in IPL 2026 based on the best net run rate in the league.
Mumbai Indians were eliminated after losing to RCB on the last ball.
The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur turned out to be a tricky surface which was certainly more helpful to the bowlers than the batsmen.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar made excellent use of swing to take three wickets in the powerplay itself, including that of MI captain Suryakumar Yadav, who took a golden duck. Tilak Verma and Naman Dheer halted the collapse in the middle overs, but it was no wickets for a total over 200.
Dhir made 47 and Bhuvneshwar dismissed Verma for 57, leaving Mumbai Indians with just 166 runs in 20 overs. At least by modern T20 standards, such a target won’t cause problems for many teams.
Deepak Chahar dismissed Virat Kohli for zero on the very first ball and soon sent Devdutt Padikkal to the pavilion. RCB was three runs behind in the powerplay, once Corbin Bosch even took the wicket of RCB captain Rajat Patidar.
Krunal Pandya and Jacob Bethel made a partnership of 55 runs until Bosch dismissed Krunal. Jitesh Sharma played a quick cameo, but Bosch dismissed both him and Tim David on consecutive balls.
Krunal Pandya fought back despite cramps and rib injuries. RCB needed 30 runs in the last 3 overs, so Pandya was saved to some extent. Taking on AM Ghazanfar, Pandya survived a dropped catch to hit two sixes in the over, until he was out for 73 on the last ball of the over.
In the 19th over of 3 runs, Jasprit Bumrah gave 16 runs to inexperienced Raj Bawa to save the last over. Thanks to three wides and one no-ball on the first two balls, 5 runs were scored. Even though Romario Shepherd was out on the third ball, Bhuvneshwar Kumar saved the day with the bat.
When 9 runs were needed from 3 balls, ‘Bhuvi’ hit a six over cover. He and Rasikh Dar eventually scored the last 3 runs in 2 balls to officially eliminate Mumbai Indians.
“Champions like Virat Kohli will always come back stronger” – Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya, who scored the most runs with the bat in the match, spoke during the press conference after the match. He was asked if there were any concerns about Virat Kohli’s form after the RCB legend was out for two consecutive ducks in IPL 2026.
He said, “Virat Kohli is a champion player. If he does not score runs in two matches, I get very excited, because I know Virat Kohli will come back.” “Virat Kohli has a lot of hunger in him; he is a different animal. None of us are worried about him; everyone knows what he is.”
He concluded, “I am sure Virat Kohli will do Virat-like work again. There is no doubt about that.”
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Krunal Pandya in IPL 2026
Apart from his heroics with the bat against Mumbai Indians, Pandya has also been a valuable asset with the ball for RCB in IPL 2026.
With 10 wickets in 11 matches, Pandya is RCB’s joint second-highest wicket-taker this year. He has bowled overs at an average of 29.6 and economy rate of 8.7.
With the bat, Pandya has scored one half-century – 73 against MI – and has scored a total of 141 runs in 6 innings. His average with the bat is 35.25 and strike rate is 150.
Krunal Pandya is also one of only two players to complete the double of 100 runs and 10 wickets in IPL 2026, the other being Jamie Overton.