[Watch] Virat Kohli dropped for a duck by Jonny Bairstow in RCB vs PBKS IPL 2024 clash  

Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Virat Kohli got an early reprieve when he was dropped by Jonny Bairstow early in his innings during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, March 25.

Chasing 177 to win their first home game of the season, Virat Kohli took the strike against Sam Curran with the new ball. The right-handed batter began the innings with a dot, and his drive off the very next ball induced an outside edge bringing Jonny Bairstow, stationed at wide-slip, into play.

However, the Englishman was late to react and let the ball go through his palms as it raced away to the boundary. Kohli made PBKS pay for the mistake as he smashed three more boundaries off Curran to get RCB off to a perfect start.

Have a look at the dropped catch right here:

Kohli has been on song, dominating the proceedings in the power-play after Faf du Plessis and Cameron Green departed cheaply inside the first five overs.

Virat Kohli was dropped again off Sam Curran's bowling in the sixth over

After a mammoth first over, PBKS fought back with some tight overs by Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh that also yielded wickets. The visiting side could have had the perfect end to the powerplay as they created another opportunity to dismiss Kohli.

Off the third delivery of the sixth over, Kohli's shaky stroke almost found Rahul Chahar at mid-wicket. The spinner pulled off a spectacular dive, and even managed to get his outstretched hand on the ball, but he could not get a solid grip on it, resulting in yet another spilled chance.

At the time of writing, Kohli is ticking along and anchoring the run chase in the middle overs. He has scored 40 runs off 26 deliveries so far, with eight fours to his name. RCB are placed at 61-2 after eight overs and the former skipper is joined by Rajat Patidar at the crease.