'Best innings of the season' - Moody, Abhinav marvel at Jitesh's blitz

Jitesh Sharma's unbeaten 33-ball 85 successful Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) top-two sealing win implicit Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ranks lone astatine No. 23 connected the database of highest idiosyncratic scores of IPL 2025. But, according to Tom Moody connected ESPNcricinfo's Time Out, it was the innings of the season. Undisputed.

When Jitesh arrived successful the 12th implicit astatine the autumn of Virat Kohli's wicket, the chances of an RCB triumph successful their pursuit of 228 stood astatine lone 21.09% according to ESPNcricinfo's forecaster. But helium bashed six sixes and 8 fours successful Mayank Agarwal's institution to seal the triumph with 8 balls to spare.

"The innings is, for me, the innings of the IPL this play by a stretch," Moody said aft the game. "We've seen immoderate large knocks from young and old, but this one, wow, rather remarkable!

"The squad was wholly against it - backs against the wall, Kohli successful the sheds, [Phil] Salt successful the sheds. There was important headwind, but helium conscionable ignored it each and conscionable took the crippled apart. He not lone took the crippled apart, helium played smartly, conscionable the mode helium went astir it was similar he'd been determination and done it earlier many, galore times."

A item of Jitesh's innings was however helium maneuvered the tract changes employed by LSG skipper Rishabh Pant by uncovering pockets of spaces for his boundaries with ease. He besides rode his luck - surviving a run-out chance, getting a reprieve disconnected a no-ball, and escaping a run-out effort astatine the non-strikers' end. Abhinav Mukund, connected Time Out, said portion Jitesh did bask immoderate fortune, helium besides learnt from RCB's erstwhile crippled against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) wherever they mislaid by 42 runs contempt being up of the pursuit astatine 1 point.

"And that's a large motion of immoderate IPL cricketer, right?," Abhinav said. "They were 172 for 3 successful the past game, chasing 232, they got 189 each out. I cognize the wickets fell earlier him, but the unit accrued successful the past crippled close aft the timeout. I feared the aforesaid erstwhile helium got retired of that no-ball, but luck is simply a beauteous happening there. You get a reprieve and past you say, 'okay, this clip I'm not making a mistake again.'

"That's precisely what happened. I'm very, precise blessed for Jitesh, but this is precisely what you're paying the large bucks for arsenic a mid-order batter. And he's proven that a plenty. On a nighttime erstwhile your apical wicketkeeper oregon your World Cup wicketkeeper [Pant] gets a 100 and everyone's happy, this guy's got 1 better, I would think, with 85* disconnected 33."