Virat Kohli teases Ishant Sharma in response to farewell in first innings during RCB vs DC

Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Virat Kohli and Delhi Capitals senior pacer Ishant Sharma were involved in friendly banter during the Indian Premier League match on Sunday. The two Indian cricket stalwarts who have been playing together since a young age share a great camaraderie on and off the field. Ishant played a lot of cricket under Kohli in the red-ball format, but both players never got a chance to play for the same franchise in the IPL.

Meanwhile, during the mega-clash between RCB and DC on Sunday, Kohli engaged in friendly banter with Ishant when the two came face to face as the batting maestro smashed the senior pacer for a six and a four but the latter then got the better of him. Ishant bid farewell to Kohli with a little tug on his shoulder, while Kohli had a wry smile on his face with his head bowed.

However, the RCB star teased Ishant when he came to bat in the second innings as the Capitals were on the verge of defeat. Kohli made fun of his Indian teammate as the duo once again got involved in friendly banter.

Ishant remained unbeaten, but he failed to open his account as the Capitals lost the match by 47 runs in the absence of their regular skipper Rishabh Pant.

Abandoned catches hurt us: Axar Patel

Bengaluru posted 187-9 after Cameron Green hit an unbeaten 24-ball 32 and the bowlers then combined to bowl out Delhi for 140 in 19.1 overs at their M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Bengaluru, who have moved up to fifth, mounted a late charge to qualify for the play-offs but will need to win their final league match and other results to go in their favor and make the top four. Delhi slipped to sixth place and entered their final match with 12 points. Bengaluru also have 12 points from 13 matches but have a better run rate.

DC stand-in skipper Axar Patel claimed that they had a chance to restrict RCB to 150 but the falling catches did them a lot of harm.

“The dropped catches hurt us. We could have restricted them to 150. When you lose four wickets in the powerplay, you still chase the game. 160-170 would have been a normal score. The pitch was two-paced. Some skidding, some were holding. When your main players are exhausted and you lose four in the powerplay, you chase the game, but you didn't think that far ahead,” Axar Patel said after the defeat.