On Saturday, May 3, Virat Kohli briefly took over captaincy duties for Royal Challengers Bengaluru during their high-octane clash against Chennai Super Kings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The familiar sight of Kohli marshalling his troops came after regular skipper Rajat Patidar was forced off the field due to an unfortunate finger injury.
The incident occurred in the 11th over of CSK’s innings. Suyash Sharma bowled a short delivery that Ravindra Jadeja sliced wide of extra cover. Patidar, positioned there, dived full length in an attempt to stop the ball. Although he managed to get a hand to it, the ball raced away to the boundary. But more importantly, Patidar immediately looked in discomfort, clutching his right hand. The physio was called in, and after a quick check, Patidar walked off the field for further treatment.
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In his absence, Kohli stepped in as the stand-in captain, taking charge of field placements and energizing the team with his familiar intensity. The leadership baton returned to Patidar once he came back on the field later in the innings.
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Eventually, CSK lost the game by just 2 runs despite Ayush Mhatre was playing a blinder, batting on 94 off 48 balls, while Jadeja provided solid support on 77 off 45. Despite losing Shaik Rasheed and Sam Curran early in the powerplay, the duo steadied the innings with a counterattacking partnership.
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While CSK are already out of playoff contention in IPL 2025, they seemed determined to finish strong and avenge their earlier loss to RCB.
Earlier, RCB posted a commanding 213/5. Romario Shepherd lit up the death overs with a blistering 14-ball fifty, adding 54 runs in the last two overs. Kohli (62) and Jacob Bethell (55) also made key contributions at the top.
