WATCH: Riyan Parag drops Virat Kohli to deny Sandeep Sharma huge wicket

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a great start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 game on Sunday. Virat Kohli and Phil Salt yet again came up with a key stand in the powerplay overs as RCB were placed at 65 for no loss after six overs. Sandeep Sharma has dismissed Kohli on seven occasions in the IPL and it could have been number eight if not for Riyan Parag. 

The incident in question happened in the first ball of the fourth over with Sharma bowling to Kohli, who was on seven runs. The bowler delivered a perfect cross seam bowl that deceived Kohli, who went for a huge hit but didn’t time the ball well. Riyan Parag came running in but dropped what could have been a great catch. 

Virat Kohli dropped on 7 by Riyan Parag! pic.twitter.com/Emwl5Lty3c

— Cricofy (@Cricofy24) April 13, 2025

Once the chance went down, Parag wasn’t happy with Tushar Deshpande, as the RR pacer was also running in to take the catch. In the very next ball, Kohli hit Sharma for a four as more bad fielding rubbed salt into the bowlers wounds. In the fifth ball of the same over, Phil Salt was dropped by the bowler himself, who failed to hold onto a return catch. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal then dropped the third catch of Sandeep Sharma’s bowling on the third ball of the sixth over. Phil Salt hit the ball hard towards Jaiswal, who was fielding at extra cover. Sharma was seen crestfallen at the amount of chances going down off his bowling. Jaiswal threw the ball towards the stumps with Salt short of his crease and missed the stumps. If Sandeep Sharma had been able to collect the throw, RCB would have lost their first wicket. 

Phil Salt powers RCB to yet another quick start 

Bengaluru were set a target of 174 runs to win and Salt began the chase with a boundary off Archer. The English batter also hit a six in the same over to ensure RCB scored 10 runs off Archer’s over. Tushar Deshpande’s first over produced just eight runs, with Kohli scoring a tremendous boundary. 

Jofra Archer’s second over produced 12 runs as Salt hit his teammate for yet another four and a six in the over. Rajasthan Royals didn’t help themselves with some shoddy fielding, as dropped catches and misfields let RCB batters tighten their grip on the game. Phil Salt got to his fifty off just 28 balls when he hit Hasaranga for a four in the second ball of the eighth over.