May 10, 2026, was a surprising day in the IPL for Virat Kohli. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru player was out for a “golden duck” (out on the very first ball) in Raipur, which was his second zero in a row. This brought up a question for both his fans and his team’s opponents: when was the last time Kohli had two ducks one after the other?
A rare two-match slump for Kohli
That previous time was in 2022. On April 19th and April 23rd in 2022, Kohli was out for a duck in consecutive games against Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Four years later, the same thing is happening, and Lucknow Super Giants are involved again.
The last time it happened
This time, Prince Yadav bowled Kohli for a duck with only two balls faced against Lucknow Super Giants. Then, in Raipur, after Mumbai Indians scored 166 for 7 (so RCB needed 167 to win), Kohli was out on the first ball he played.
How Mumbai struck in Raipur
Deepak Chahar’s ball went away from Kohli, and Kohli tried to hit it upwards and towards the middle of the field, but didn’t connect well. He hit it to mid-off, and Raj Angad Bawa quickly dove forward and caught it cleanly. The stadium went quiet and Kohli, at 37 years old, was out for a golden duck.
Videos on social media really focused on Chahar getting Kohli out with the first ball in Raipur, and also showed Prince Yadav’s earlier good ball that bowled Kohli. These two highlights showed how unusual it is for the most-watched batter of the season to be out for nothing twice in a row.
Head-to-head and historical markers
Chahar has now dismissed Kohli twice in their eleven IPL games against each other. In those games, Kohli has scored 80 runs off 60 balls (a strike rate of 133.3), which is pretty good, but is now overshadowed by being out so quickly this time.
Being out for zero in Raipur was the 12th time Kohli has been out for a duck in the IPL, and his second time being out for nothing since April 23, 1023, when Trent Boult got him out first ball for Rajasthan Royals. His previous golden duck during a chase was way back in 2017, against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Also during the game, Kohli reached a milestone. He played in his 278th IPL match, which is the same number of games as Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. Although Dhoni hasn’t played at all this year because of a calf injury he had before the tournament began.
Form line versus momentary wobble
Despite these recent setbacks, Kohli is still doing well in the competition. He has 379 runs in 10 games and looks like he’ll score over 600 runs for the third year in a row.
For RCB, this shows how losing wickets early can change the whole game, even when they only need to score 167. Kohli getting out changed the feeling of the game immediately and gave Mumbai Indians an advantage before the first six overs were over.
Here are the key developments at a glance:
– Golden duck vs MI in Raipur on May 10, 2026
– Previous duck vs LSG, bowled by Prince Yadav
– Last back-to-back ducks: April 2022, vs LSG and SRH
– 12th IPL duck; 379 runs in 10 matches this season
What it means for the run-in
How Kohli plays at the start of the innings definitely affects how RCB play, and these two quick dismissals make people think more about how RCB start. But looking at his total runs and how well he’s been playing recently, it’s probably just a temporary dip in form, and he’s still a major part of Bengaluru’s attempt to get into the playoffs.
Ultimately, Mumbai Indians getting Kohli out with the first ball in Raipur was the turning point of the match. It answered the question of when Kohli would get two ducks in a row with new video and a memory from 2022, and because Kohli has been in such good form all season, it suggests he’ll bounce back quickly.
