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Jitesh Sharma's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) notched up a thrilling six-wicket win over Rishabh Pant's Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) In the final league stage match of the IPL 2025 at the Ekana Cricket stadium on May 27. This win guaranteed RCB's top two finish in the standings. RCB secured the second position in the league table with 19 points in 14 matches and are now set to face the table-toppers Punjab Kings, in Qualifier 1 which is slated to take place on Thursday, 29 in Mullanpur. Notably, RCB created history by becoming the first team in the IPL to complete a group stage without losing a single designated away game.
Rajat Patidar after RCB's thrilling win over LSG
After choosing to bowl first, RCB had a challenging start, allowing LSG to post a formidable total of 227 for 3, largely due to a century from Rishabh Pant. However, in pursuit of the target, Jitesh Sharma played a match-winning knock of 85, while Virat Kohli contributed 54 and Mayank Agarwal added an unbeaten 41, guiding RCB to a win in 18.4 overs.
During the post-match presentation, where he was awarded Player of the Match, RCB stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma stated that he focused on taking the game deep, following the advice of his mentor, Dinesh Karthik. Jitesh attributed RCB impressive away record to Rajat Patidar and emphasised the strong belief within the RCB squad, saying that every player is considered a match-winner.
"I can't express my thoughts, I was thinking about just staying in the present. When Virat got out I thought of taking the game deep and that is what my mentor (Dinesh Karthik) tells me that the kind of calibre I have I can finish the game from any situation. This is a very big franchise and I am enjoying the pressure and when I see these players (like Virat, Krunal and Bhuvi) I feel excited that I am getting to play with these players. We will enjoy this moment and whatever momentum we got in this game, we will take it forward (into the next game). Credit goes to Rajat for giving me this responsibility (maintaining the excellent record of winning away from home this season). Hazlewood is fit and the belief system in our team is very strong and whichever players you see, everyone is a match-winner and even if we lose 3-4 wickets, we always had the belief," Jitesh, who was adjudged the player of the match for his sensational knock, said at the post-match presentation.
RCB will look to end their 17-year-long title drought in IPL 2025.
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