Virat Kohli praised Krunal Pandya’s courageous innings of 73 off 46 balls, calling it the finest knock of his IPL career, after Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinched a thrilling last-ball victory over Mumbai Indians on May 10, 2026.
Chasing 167, RBC were in trouble at 39 for 3 when Krunal stepped up. Despite severe cramps and a tricky pitch, he anchored the chase, forming key partnerships with Jacob Bethell and Jitesh Sharma. He eventually fell in the 18th over after smashing two crucial sixes off Allah Ghazanfar, which proved decisive in the final outcome.
In a video released by RCB, Kohli said the innings was special because Krunal never made excuses despite physical discomfort. “You were struggling with bouncing balls, keeping low, and bouncing up. But you never made an excuse. You just showed us how to grind, how to stay in there, find a solution, find a way,” Kohli noted.
Kohli emphasized that Krunal’s two sixes while cramping were the game-changing moments. “And even when you were cramping, those two sixes were actually the difference in the game where you could have easily said, ‘I can’t carry on.’ But you found the strength to carry on for the team, so we can take a lot of inspiration from that.”
RCB’s chase got off to a poor start with Kohli himself dismissed for a golden duck for the second consecutive match. However, contributions from Rajat Patidar, Tim David, and Jacob Bethell steadied the innings alongside Krunal. “With the bat, we didn’t get off to the best start, we know that. But like the last game, we’ve had two games where we haven’t had the best starts. But in the last game, Rajat stepped up, along with KP, contributing. TD made an impact in the last game. This game around again, Beth stuck in, got us an important partnership with KP. So that contribution was crucial for us to chase the score down,” Kohli added.
Earlier, MI posted 166 for 7 after being reduced to 28 for 3, with Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma adding an 82-run stand. For RCB, veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred with 4 for 23.
The win lifted RCB to the top of the points table with seven wins in 11 matches. Krunal later hailed Bhuvneshwar’s six in the thrilling finish as the “shot of the match.”