Virat Kohli played a clinical innings - 51 off 47 - on Sunday and shared a crucial 119-run partnership with Krunal Pandya to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

However, the hue of the match could have been different had Kohli been given out for obstructing the field early in their chase.

After RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss, they sent Delhi Capitals to bat. DC posted a modest 162 for 8. After Abishek Porel provided a quick start by hitting 28 off 11, KL Rahul (41 off 39) and Tristan Stubbs (34 off 18) helped DC post 162 for 8.

For RCB, Jacob Bethell started in an aggressive fashion by hitting a six and a boundary. But Axar Patel removed both Bethell and Devdutt Padikkal in the third over. Patidar was quickly run out by Karun Nair, leaving RCB reeling at 26 for 3.

From there on, Krunal Pandya emerged as the unlikely hero. He hit 73 off 47 balls and shared the valuable partnership with Kohli.

But earlier, when RCB were 35 for 3 in six overs, leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam came on to bowl. His first ball landed on a length and was pushed by Virat Kohli to midwicket. The batters did not take a run, each one remaining firmly in their ground.

When the throw came in from the midwicket fielder to wicketkeeper Rahul, Kohli tried to catch the ball and return it to the bowler for the next delivery. Kuldeep Yadav made a faint appeal for Kohli's dismissal.

But it could have been a serious thing had Kuldeep (or any of his teammates) made a genuine appeal to the umpires. Kohli could well have been given out.

As per clause 37.4 of the IPL Playing Conditions, "Either batter is out Obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and, without the consent of a fielder, he uses the bat or any part of his person to return the ball to any fielder."

Kohli could have defended saying the ball was already dead. But had DC appealed, it would not have been since the ball had not settled in the wicketkeeper's gloves.

It must be noted that it was not the first time Kohli obstructed the field. In the Champions Trophy earlier this year, he made a similar interception against Pakistan. Reacting to the incident, Sunil Gavaskar, who was on the mike at the time, said: "lucky nobody appealed".

In the last season of IPL, Ravindra Jadeja was given out for obstructing the field. He is only the third cricketer in the history of the IPL to be dismissed for field obstruction, with Yusuf Pathan and Amit Mishra being the other two.

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