RCB vs RR: Virat Kohli passes flying kiss to wife Anushka Sharma during match against Rajasthan Royals

In the ongoing IPL 2023 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals, Virat Kohli was seen giving a flying kiss to his wife and actress, Anushka Sharma, while fielding against RR at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. In the match against the table-toppers, the Challengers posted 189/9 on the board, after being invited to bat first. While helping his team defend the total, the RCB stalwart was seen expressing love to his wife. Back in 2018, Anushka Sharma was seen showing the same gesture to Kohli while cheering against Kings XI Punjab at the same venue.

The Game Changer@TheGame_26

07:44 PM · Apr 23, 2023

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Notably, during the fourth ball of the 14th over, RR's Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was looking good to build on his innings, holed out to Kohli in the deep off Harshal Patel's bowling. It was a dipping full toss and the stand-in skipper completed the catch in a reverse cup style. Thereafter, he blew a kiss towards the crowd while taking a lap and in doing so, gave a flying kiss to his wife, Anushka. Interestingly enough,  this was Kohli's 101st IPL catch.

Earlier in the match, Virat Kohli came out on the field for the toss for the second time in the IPL 2023. However, luck didn’t favour Kohli as his counterpart Sanju Samson won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first. While batting, Challengers got a major blow on the first delivery of the match, with Virat returning to the pavilion on a golden duck. Opening the bowling for RR, Trent Boult looked fierce and trapped the RCB veteran with his fiery inswinger to trap him in front of the wickets.

Kohli’s scalp marked the 100th IPL wicket for the dashing Kiwi bowler. After the legend’s wicket, confident Boult took Shahbaz Ahmed too in his next over. However, the contributions of Faf du Plessis (62 off 39) and Glenn Maxwell (77 off 44) helped Bangalore to accumulate 189/9 at the end of their innings.

Harshal Patel's magnificent spell propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to trump Rajasthan Royals

Defending the huge total, the Challengers started well as their opening bowler Mohammed Siraj got Royals’ premier batter Jos Buttler in his first over. However, a steady partnership between Yashasvi Jasiwal and Devdutt Padikkal gave RCB a tough time but David Willey stood tall at the crucial moment and picked up Padikkal.

After the left-handed batter’s wicket, RR’s batting looked unsettled as Harshal Patel wreaked havoc with his disciplined bowling. Hunting the scalps of Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, and Ravichandran Ashwin, the medium-pacer took the game away from the Royals to script a memorable victory for the hosts in the end.