Watch: Jason Holder’s controversial catch sends Rajat Patidar back for 19 in GT vs RCB IPL 2026 clash

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) started like an express train after being put into bat first by the Gujarat Titans (GT) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, as they raced away to 27 runs without any damage after the first couple of overs. 

But soon the defending champions lost their way as wickets kept tumbling for the visitors. Both the openers, Jacob Bethell and Virat Kohli, went back to the hut in successive overs before a controversial catch dismissed the Bengaluru captain, Rajat Patidar. 

Debate erupts over fairness of Jason Holder’s catch during crucial moment

It was the fourth delivery of the eighth over of the innings. The left-arm pacer, Arshad Khan, went with a short delivery at Patidar, who was not in a great position to face that ball. The right-handed batter pulled it but got a top edge towards the deep backward square leg.

Jason Holder was stationed there as he charged to his right and took a fine low catch. Kagiso Rabada was charging from the other end across the lanky West Indies player, who managed to ignore that grab that ball while diving on the turf.

Watch the video here: 

After a few replays, the third umpire called it out as the RCB players were not satisfied with the decision. They believed that Holder wasn’t in full control of the ball while taking the catch, as his ball was pointed towards the grass, which doesn’t qualify it as a fair catch according to the rule. But the fourth umpire had nothing to do in chanding the decision as Patidar went back for 19 runs off 15 balls.

Brief Scores (at the time of writing): RCB- 119/6 (Devdutt Padikkal 40*, Arshad Khan 2/15) vs GT

Fans divided as replay of controversial dismissal goes viral online

RCB lost Jitesh Sharma in the very next over as Holder contributed with the ball. The wicket-keeper got an outside edge behind the stumps as Jos Buttler completed a great diving catch. Tim David was soon dismissed in the 11th over before Krunal Pandya chipped the leg-side ball into the hands of the fielder.

See Also: Watch: Virat Kohli smashes Kagiso Rabada for five successive boundaries during GT vs RCB clash in IPL 2026

RCB lost their sixth wicket under 100 runs as the pressure kept mounting on the defending champions.

Here is how the fans have reacted to the controversial catch of Holder in the IPL 2026-