The thriller at Wankhede Stadium on Monday night between RCB and Mumbai Indians had 25 sixes, but there was a shot from Jitesh Sharma which was very special in its concept and execution.
This bowling by Trent Bault came to the first ball of the 19th over, which was really full and well served out. Jitesh had changed his knee to swoop across the stumps. The length and line demanded those acrobatic yogic posture, but the final result was still not quite clear. As he drowned on his knee, he felt that he had to go down to go under the ball, but now with a deep midwick fielder, he had to get enough power from his wrist, so that the ball could be sent to climb the stand.
He ended with a combination of a hockey-style drag-flick and scoop, mixing it with a cricketing sweep shot to fly the white ball into the night sky. Sunil Gavaskar raised the question in the minds of those who saw it: ‘Is this a scoop or a bridge? “His co-concert Ravi Shastri said,” This is also a sweep “.
Jitesh Sharma scored 40* in 19 balls.
He scored 24 runs in 8 balls against Trent Bowlt and his six hitting ability in the death over is amazing against pacers. pic.twitter.com/o74qbweudy
– Vikas Yadav (@vikasyadav69014) April 8, 2025
It was a shot that Pakistan’s Moin Khan often deployed during his international career. Great fast bowlers such as Alan Donald and Glenn McGrath have faced luck with Moin’s hands, and he was spread on the ground at some time ended.
This was the required shot to bowl well by the strategy of Mumbai Indians, almost on the wide line. Both Hardik Pandya and Bault tried it, but both were broken around by the courageous pair of Jitesh and Rajat Patidar. It was left for Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled in stumps, scoring just 14 runs in his last two overs, together with amazing bouncers to keep the batsmen in the Gulf.
