"Innings of the IPL by a stretch": Tom Moody hails Jitesh Sharma's blazing 85 not out in RCB's stunning chase

New Delhi [India], May 28 (ANI): Jitesh Sharma's unbeaten 85 off just 33 balls may only rank 23rd on the list of highest individual scores in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, but for Tom Moody, it was the innings of the season.

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Walking in during the 12th over after Virat Kohli's dismissal, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were staring at an improbable chase of 228 but Jitesh, in the company of Mayank Agarwal, turned the game on its head with a brutal yet clever assault smashing six sixes and eight boundaries to wrap up the win with eight balls to spare.

"The innings is, for me, the innings of the IPL this season by a stretch," Moody said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

He added, "We've seen some great knocks from young and old, but this one, wow, quite remarkable!

"The team was totally against it - backs against the wall, Kohli in the sheds, (Phil) Salt in the sheds. There was significant headwind, but he just ignored it all and just took the game apart. He not only took the game apart, he played smartly, just the way he went about it was like he'd been there and done it before many, many times," he said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out.

One of the most impressive aspects of Jitesh's innings was his ability to read and counter Rishabh Pant's field adjustments. He consistently found gaps, manipulating the field with precision to keep the scoreboard ticking and the pressure mounting on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). While he did enjoy slices of luck, surviving a run-out, benefiting from a no-ball reprieve, and narrowly avoiding another dismissal at the non-striker's end, his composure stood out.

Abhinav Mukund, also on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out, pointed out that Jitesh seemed to have learnt from RCB's recent defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), where they let a strong position slip. This time, he made sure history didn't repeat itself, guiding his team to a statement win when it mattered most.

"And that's a great sign of any IPL cricketer, right?," Abhinav said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"They were 172 for 3 in the last game, chasing 232, they got 189 all out. I know the wickets fell before him, but the pressure increased in the last game right after the timeout. I feared the same when he got out of that no-ball, but luck is a beautiful thing there. You get a reprieve and then you say, 'okay, this time I'm not making a mistake again,'" he added.

"That's exactly what happened. I'm very, very happy for Jitesh, but this is exactly what you're paying the big bucks for as a mid-order batter. And he's proven that a plenty. On a night when your top wicketkeeper or your World Cup wicketkeeper (Pant) gets a hundred and everyone's happy, this guy's got one better, I would think, with 85* off 33," he noted. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)