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Dropped catches proved costly for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as they faced a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on May 13, jeopardising their chances of reaching Indian Premier League (IPL) 2206 playoffs. Virat Kohli was the architect of the run chase. He played the anchor role and remained unbeaten on 105 as RCB finished the game with five balls to spare. But, in the sixth over, KKR had a chance to dismiss Kohli early. Kartik Tyagi managed to create a catching opportunity but Rovman Powell dropped the tough chance. In the post-match press conference, KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar rued the dropped chance of Kohli as well as Devdutt Padikkal's. KKR were not able to stop Kohli for the rest of the innings, especially in the absence of Varun Chakaravarthy.
"We all know that if you leave Virat Kohli's catch, it will be difficult, especially when he is chasing, so there are a lot of things that could have been better. But when you are playing good cricket with a team like this, and Virat Kohli and (Devdutt) Padikkal are in good form, and you want to take their catches in that time, so it is unfortunate, in the game, these things happen, Virat's catch was very sharp, he was very close, and you expect Vaibhav to take the catch, but it is one of those things, you reflect on it, and you say that if I had taken the catches, it could have been different," Nayar said in the post-match press conference.
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Costly dropped chances
When Kohli's catch was dropped, he was batting on 21 off 12 deliveries. He rubbed salt on Tyagi's wounds with a six over long leg. In the eighth over, Vaibhav Arora dropped Devdutt Padikkal's catch who was batting on 22 then. Kohli and Padikkal shared a 92-run partnership for the second wicket. In the 14th over, it was Tyagi who got the breakthrough. He got rid of Padikkal with an off-cutter. The southpaw departed for a 27-ball 39.
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Nayar defends Arora’s bowling numbers
While Tyagi claimed three wickets for 32 runs, Arora had a poor outing. He conceded 48 runs in his quota of four overs and remained wicketless. Nayar was critical of Arora dropping the catch but defended his expensive spell.
"In the last few matches, he made a very good comeback. The defensive bowler you need in T20s, Vaibhav, is that kind of player. He has experience, he has played a lot in IPL, and you want him to bowl against Virat Kohli, we thought at that time that Vaibhav could do that for us," he said.
Vaibhav Arora’s IPL 2026 statistics
In the ongoing edition, Arora has claimed 11 wickets from as many games at an average of 35.45. His economy rate is 10.26 runs per over. He is KKR's third-highest wicket-taker in the season, after Tyagi and Sunil Narine.
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