Bengaluru, March 29 – After leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a dominant six-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Virat Kohli expressed his love for his wife, Anushka Sharma, with a flying kiss.
Kohli turned towards the stands and blew a kiss at Anushka Sharma, who was accompanied by RCB women's team players, including captain Smriti Mandhana. The crowd responded with cheers, adding a personal touch to what was already an unforgettable night.
Earlier in the match, after being put in to bat first on a two-paced pitch, SRH capitalized on captain Ishan Kishan’s brilliant 80 off 38 balls and a late burst from Aniket Verma (43 off 18 balls) to post 201/9. Kishan's fluent batting, with eight fours and five sixes, and Aniket's fearless cameo helped the visitors surpass the 200-mark despite Jacob Duffy's impressive debut spell of 3-22 and Romario Shepherd's 3-54.
In reply, RCB's top order easily chased down the seemingly daunting target. Devdutt Padikkal set the tone with a blistering 61 off 26 balls, featuring seven fours and four sixes, while Virat Kohli, returning to T20 cricket after ten months, delighted the home crowd with an unbeaten 69 off 38 balls, with five fours and five sixes.
Rajat Patidar contributed a brisk 31 off 12 balls to ensure the chase was completed with 26 deliveries to spare. RCB's innings was marked by aggressive intent from the start. Padikkal reached a 21-ball fifty, his fastest in the IPL, before being dismissed by Harsh Dubey.
Kohli then took control, producing trademark strokes – a lofted push over the bowler's head, a whip over square leg, and a flat-batted drive through cover – to showcase his class and reach his 64th IPL fifty, as SRH's bowling attack struggled to contain the flow of runs.
