Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli (Videos) NEW DELHI: It was a night of dominance, emotion and a touch of romance as Virat Kohli lit up the IPL 2026 opener – both with the bat and with a heartwarming gesture towards wife Anushka Sharma.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!After guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to an impressive six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kohli turned to the stands and kissed Anushka. Sitting next to the RCB Women’s players including captain Smriti Mandhana, the Bollywood star responded with a quick kiss and a smile of her own as the crowd erupted into cheers.
Watch
RCB’s big changes ahead of IPL: New rules, tribute and squad update The brief exchange quickly went viral and became one of the defining images of the season opener, adding a personal touch to an already electric evening at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.WATCH:
Kohli, Padikkal power RCB’s clinical chase
Kohli showed his enduring class with an unbeaten 69 off 38 balls, with five fours and five sixes, as RCB chased down a daunting 202 in just 15.4 overs.Reflecting on his return to T20 cricket after a long break, Kohli said, “Whenever I come back to the game, it’s 120 per cent. I don’t come back unprepared, in fact the extra rest helps me mentally refresh myself.”He added: “You don’t just want to stay put, you want to keep performing and keep working for the team.”Substitute Devdutt Padikkal set the tone with 61 off 26 balls while Rajat Patidar hit a quickfire 31 to ensure the chase was easily completed.Kishan shines but SRH fall behindAfter being put into bat, SRH rode on a scintillating 80 from stand-in captain Ishan Kishan and a late success from Aniket Verma (43 off 18) to post 201/9.Despite a strong total, their bowling attack struggled to contain RCB’s aggressive batting. “We will be a bit more careful with the bowling… maybe we will be stronger from the next game,” admitted Kishan after the match.RCB’s win also came on an emotional night where the players wore black armbands and observed a minute’s silence for the fans lost in last year’s tragic stampede.
