Virat Kohli’s candid mid-game laugh with Rohit Sharma before walking out to bat for RCB against MI became the heartwarming moment of the day in the IPL 2026 match.
Cricket has a way of producing moments that go beyond the boundary ropes, and on Sunday, April 12, during the IPL 2026 clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, one such moment lit up social media.
As Virat Kohli was making his way out to the middle to bat for RCB, he spotted his friend and India teammate Rohit Sharma standing nearby.
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Rather than walking straight past, Kohli paused, walked over to Rohit, exchanged a few words and then broke into a wide, natural smile. Rohit laughed along, and for a brief moment, two of Indian cricket’s greatest modern icons were just two old friends sharing a quiet joke in the middle of the match. Watch the clip below:
And if Virat Kohli needed any loosening up before his innings, it clearly worked. He walked out and got immediately into his stride, batting alongside Philip Salt as RCB raced to 71/0 in six overs, Kohli himself contributing a crisp 22 off 14 balls while Salt blazed an extraordinary 47 off just 22, at the time of writing.
After three matches in IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru sit third on the points table with two wins and one loss, accumulating four points and a healthy net run rate of +1.231.
RCB opened their campaign in style, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the season opener on March 28, followed by a commanding 43-run victory over Chennai Super Kings on April 5. However, Rajasthan Royals brought them back down to earth on April 10, defeating RCB by six wickets with 12 balls to spare.
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