Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) suffered a 42-run defeat against SRH in match 65 of the IPL 2025 season on Friday, May 23. Chasing 232 runs for a win, RCB kept the chase alive by reaching 173/3. However, a late collapse saw them lose their final seven wickets for only 16 additional runs.
Jitesh Sharma rues RCB's defeat against SRH
This result marked RCB's first loss after a streak of four consecutive wins, somewhat hindering their aspirations for a top-two finish.
Jitesh Sharma, who stepping in as RCB captain for the injured Rajat Patidar, isn't bothered about his team's defeat to SRH in the high-scoring match. The hard-hitting middle-order batter suggested that sometimes a loss can be 'a very good sign' for a team, allowing them to relax and re-evaluate their game plans.
Jitesh Sharma further elaborated that RCB's recent defeat to SRH will provide the team with an opportunity to re-evaluate certain strategies before advancing to the IPL 2025 playoffs.
"I think it was 20-30 runs extra. They played very well. I didn't have any answers for their attack. We were rusty. The intensity was not there initially... In the death, we were bowling more accurately. Right now, I haven't met David because I was upset I got out. Sometimes losing a game is a very good sign because you can check and analyse. The positive things are that everyone's chipping in. After this loss, we've got a setback to check [things] again. We'll move forward," Jitesh said at the post-match presentation.
A victory over SRH at this stage of the tournament would have propelled RCB to the top of the IPL 2025 points table. However, they remain in third place, having secured eight wins at the expense of four defeats and one no-result from 13 matches.
For RCB to secure a top-two finish, they must defeat LSG in their upcoming final league match. Moreover, they need to hope that both Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans lose at least one of their remaining games.
SRH will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 25, while RCB will take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 27.