Prince Yadav celebrates after taking the wicket of Virat Kohli. (IPL photo) RCB superstar Virat Kohli was left stunned after Prince Yadav cleaned him up for a two-ball duck at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday night. It was Kohli’s first duck in the IPL in 1110 days and only the 11th duck of his legendary T20 career in the tournament.The delivery itself quickly became one of the biggest talking points of IPL 2026. Prince bowled a sharp 140.4km/h ball that sliced wildly through Kohli’s defense before hitting the off-stump. Kohli stood frozen in disbelief as the young pacer erupted in celebration.
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Prince Yadav on Virat Kohli’s dismissal, LSG mindset and the big momentSome fans and pundits even called it the “ball of the tournament”.For a batsman who has dominated the IPL for nearly two decades and scored more than 9,000 runs, the dismissal of Kohli for a duck remains one of the rarest feats in franchise cricket.
Kohli’s rare ducks in IPL history
The last time Kohli was dismissed for nothing in the IPL was in April 2023 when Rajasthan Royals pacer Trent Boult trapped him lbw on the very first ball.Since his IPL debut in 2008, Kohli has played 277 matches and scored 9040 runs, including eight hundreds and 66 fifties, at an average of 39.82 and a strike rate of 133.92.In his 269 IPL innings, Kohli has been dismissed for a duck only 11 times – just 4.09 per cent of his innings.What makes the record even more remarkable is the spread of those ducks across his career. Six of the 11 ducks came in just two tough seasons – 2014 and 2022 – when Kohli was dismissed three times for nothing.This leaves only five ducks in the remaining 17 seasons of the IPL.These isolated dismissals came against Mumbai Indians in 2008, Gujarat Lions in 2016, Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017, Rajasthan Royals in 2023 and now Lucknow Super Giants in 2026.Virat Kohli’s IPL Ducks:Balls FacedBatting Position DismissalInningsOppositionCountry Date16Caught1MIBengaluru28. May 200823Caught2MIDubai (DICS)19 April 201453Caught2SRHBengaluru4 May 201413Caught2Kingu92GIBengaluru2B204XIBengalur LionsBengaluru24. May 201612Chyceno2KKREden Gardens23 Apr 201713Chyceno1LSGDY Patil19 Apr 202213Chyceno1SRHBrabourne23 Apr 202211Chyceno1SRRengHWankhede851.05.202 202322Bowled2LSGLucknow 7 May 2026Multiple ducks and their effect on Kohli’s seasonInterestingly, the period when Kohli suffered a few ducks also coincided with noticeable dips in his overall numbers.In 2014, Kohli registered ducks against Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab. He ended the season with just 359 runs in 14 innings at an average of 27.61 and a strike rate of 122.10, scoring just two fifties.Then came the tough 2022 season.Kohli endured one of the toughest phases of his IPL career that year, again scoring three ducks – against LSG and twice against SRH. His innings reflected heavily in his final figures as he managed just 341 runs in 16 innings at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98.Statistically, it remains one of Kohli’s poorest IPL seasons.Kohli ducks in the chaseKohli’s latest duck also produced another surprising statistic.Widely regarded as one of the greatest chasers in the history of cricket, the RCB icon registered only his sixth IPL duck while batting second. The number seems slightly inflated, as all three of his ducks in the 2014 season came during a run. Apart from this unusual phase, Kohli rarely failed when batting second. More remarkably, it was his first duck in the chase since April 2017 – ending a gap of over nine years.Despite the setback, Kohli’s IPL 2026 campaign remains on track. He has already scored 379 runs in 10 matches and looks well set for another 600 runs after crossing the mark in each of the last three editions.Virat Kohli’s IPL ducks in the chase:Balls FacedBatting Position DismissalOpposition GroundDate23CaughtMIDubai (DICS)19. April 201453Caught SRHBengaluru4 May 201413CaughtKings XIBengaluru9 May 201422BowledGuj Lions MayBengaluru216K24 201722BowledLSGLucknow7 May 2026
