We just took it deep, says Jitesh Sharma

"We have a strong belief system. We have match winners. Look at our playing XI, and we have match winners,” Jitesh Sharma said

HYDERABAD: Jitesh Sharma of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who scored a match-winning 33-ball, 85 against Lucknow Super Giants in the last IPL league match in Lucknow on Tuesday, said he would not be able to express his thoughts.

“I can’t believe I played that knock. When Virat bhai was out, I was just thinking of taking it deep. As my mentor and guru Dinesh [Karthik] anna says, just take it deep,” Jitesh said in a chat with the host broadcaster.

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“I was getting cramps because the entire load was on me! I have Virat bhai, Krunal bhai and Bhuvi bhai with me. I feel excited that I’m playing with them. We want to enjoy the moment,” said the ‘player of the match’.

“But we’ll try to recover well. We’ll look to carry the momentum into the next match. Credit goes to Rajat. I had the responsibility of maintaining his record. Hazlewood will perhaps play in the knockout,” Jitesh said.

“We have a strong belief system. We have match winners. Look at our playing XI, and we have match winners,” he said.

And for his part, Mayank Agarwal, who also contributed with a crucial 23-ball, 41 in RCB’s win, said there was very little to do. “I just had to give him the strike. Jitesh just put on a show. There are no words to describe what he did. We were just calculating,” he said.

“We knew Digvesh had one over. So we were like, if we could get 10 off him. The wicket was good to target the fast bowlers,” Mayank said.

“Jitesh just did what he had to. It builds a lot of confidence and momentum… we couldn’t do it last game. When I came in, we had lost two quick wickets,” he said.

“It was good that Virat and I could get quick runs going at that time. Then it was about one batsman batting through. I’m glad we took them down,” he said.