Vipraj Nigam has already lived the kind of IPL moment young cricketers dream about. On his very first outing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2025, the Delhi Capitals all-rounder got the better of Virat Kohli at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. It was a special wicket then, and it remains one of the defining flashes of his debut season.
On April 10, 2025, Vipraj Nigam removed Kohli on the final ball of his second over, a dismissal he later described as surreal. Now, as Delhi Capitals return to the same venue to face RCB again on April 18 in IPL 2026, the focus once more shifts to the 21-year-old from Uttar Pradesh.
Vipraj made an instant impression in his first IPL campaign, playing an important role in DC’s strong 2025 run, and he will be hoping to deliver another impact performance in the Rivalry Week clash.
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This time, though, the assignment looks even tougher. Virat Kohli is in excellent form in IPL 2026 and remains one of the most dangerous batters in the competition. Speaking at the JioStar Press Room ahead of the match, Vipraj stressed that bowling to a player of Kohli’s calibre requires complete discipline, sharp execution and very little room for error.
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He admitted that even the best-laid plans can go wrong against a batter of Kohli’s class, which is why sticking to the basics will be crucial for Delhi Capitals. For the young spinner, the key is to stay calm, trust the team strategy and avoid drifting away from the plan under pressure.
“Against a world-class player like Virat Kohli, your margin for error becomes very small. You know that even the slightest mistake can cost you runs. Even on good deliveries, runs can still be scored. So our plan is very simple — whatever strategy we have and whatever planning we’ve done, we just need to stick to that. And the aim is to repeat what happened last year (in 2025),” Vipraj Nigam said.
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Vipraj’s debut season also included another big wicket, that of Rohit Sharma in a clash against Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. That ability to strike against proven stars has made him one of Delhi Capitals’ most exciting young options.
So far in IPL 2026, he has taken one wicket in three matches and will be eager to make a bigger statement when Delhi Capitals take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru once again.
