Sandeep Sharma became the IPL bowler with the most Virat Kohli dismissals to his name after having the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain caught at short extra cover in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) IPL 2020 clash against RCB.
Of the 93 bowlers who have taken Kohli’s wicket in the IPL, five have managed to dismiss him on four or more occasions. It’s safe to say that they have made the India and RCB captain their bunny.
Dhawal Kulkarni – 4
Not playing in IPL 2020, Kulkarni featured in each of the 12 seasons that preceded the ongoing one, taking 86 wickets while representing Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions. And four of those 86 wickets have been that of Kohli – one caught behind, one bowled and twice caught in the outfield.
Mitchell McClenaghan – 4
In only five IPL seasons, McClenaghan has gotten the better of Kohli on four different occasions, all of them caught in the outfield. The Mumbai Indians quick, who is yet to play this season, reportedly liked a fan’s tweet last year which referred to Kohli as his bunny, which isn’t entirely false, to be fair.
Mohammed Shami – 4
Shami is one of the three quicks to have dismissed Kohli four times in the IPL. The most recent of Shami’s dismissals of Kohli came when RCB faced KXIP in Sharjah earlier this season. The India speedster had him caught behind by KL Rahul when Kohli was just two short of his half-century.
Shami took AB de Villiers’ wicket in the match as well, ensuring RCB could get to only 171, a total KXIP chased down with eight wickets to spare.
Ashish Nehra – 6
Nehra held the record of the most Kohli dismissals when he finished his IPL career with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017, following which he was made the RCB bowling coach – a sensible move so he couldn’t teach the next generation of bowlers about how to get out the Bangalore captain. Three of those dismissals were caught in the outfield, twice caught behind and one bowled. It took another three years for Sharma to overtake Nehra’s record. Fittingly, Nehra was commentating on the match itself.
Sandeep Sharma – 7
Sandeep Sharma dismisses Virat Kohli for the SEVENTH time in IPL.
Bunny 🐰#RCBvSRH | #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/4EXI5fXYUM
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) October 31, 2020
First with Kings XI Punjab and now with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sandeep Sharma has troubled Kohli more than any other bowler in IPL. He is one of only two quicks – the other is Ashok Dinda – to have him bowled twice in the tournament’s 12-year history. Dismissing the top run-scorer in IPL the most times is quite a record to hold.
