Delhi Capitals versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2025 Thursday became a theatre of emotion, dominated less by runs and wickets and more by miscommunication, fan fury and social media meltdowns.
RCB began with a bang, thumping 53 runs in the first three overs. Phil Salt led the assault, blazing 36 runs off just 14 balls, while Virat Kohli played second fiddle with a cautious six off five. But all that momentum came to a crashing halt in the fourth over when Salt was run out.
Akshar Patel had just come into the attack when Salt punched a delivery towards cover and set off for a quick single.
Kohli, after taking a couple of steps, decided against the run and sent Salt back.
The Englishman, caught mid-pitch, slipped while turning and couldn’t recover in time. KL Rahul’s quick work at the stumps sealed his fate.
The lack of coordination between the two batters was glaring, and the replay only amplified what many saw as yet another chapter in Kohli’s long-standing tryst with run-out controversies.
Salt, who had smashed four boundaries and three sixes in his 17-ball 37, trudged off frustrated.
It didn’t take long for social media to erupt.
“Phil Salt is just the latest victim of selfish Kohli,” one user fumed on X, while another wrote, “All Salt needed was a selfless PR team like Rohit Sharma has.”
A third claimed that Kohli’s tendency to get partners run out was nothing new and that his ego often got the better of his judgement between the wickets.
Things escalated further when Kohli himself fell shortly after, scoring 22 before being dismissed by Delhi’s 20-year-old debutant Vipraj Nigam.
A proud moment for the young leg-spinning all-rounder from Uttar Pradesh turned into an online nightmare.
Nigam had already made headlines earlier in the tournament with a match-winning 39 off 15 balls against Lucknow Super Giants. His performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Col CK Nayudu Trophy had earned him a BCCI under-23 camp call-up.
Kohli fans swarmed Vipraj Nigam’s Instagram account with messages that bordered on unhinged. “Why did you dismiss Kohli?” read one of the many angry comments. Others spammed his posts with red-faced emojis, insults and not-so-subtle threats.
But Kohli’s supporters have a history of turning social media into a battlefield.
During the ICC Champions Trophy clash between India and New Zealand in Dubai, the Indian batting star had managed just 11 before Glenn Phillips pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss him.
But instead of praising the Kiwi cricketer, some fans flooded the Instagram page of electronics brand Philips, believing the brand had something to do with the wicket.
The pattern repeated itself when Himanshu Sangwan, a Railways pacer, dismissed Kohli in a Ranji Trophy match.
Within hours, an unrelated Instagram user with the same name was caught in the crossfire of fan fury — all for sharing a name with the man who sent Kohli back to the pavilion.
For Vipraj Nigam, who had announced himself with a fearless 39* in a previous game and followed it up with the prized wicket of Kohli, it was supposed to be a night of celebration. Instead, he became the latest accidental villain in the eyes of Indian cricket’s most volatile fanbase.
