On Sunday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) took down the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, ensuring the top position on the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table. This win was RCB’s sixth consecutive away win and seventh in ten matches this season. They now have a two-point lead over Gujarat Titans (GT), much to the excitement of their fans.
After the match, RCB’s dressing room was ablaze. Rajat Patidar and wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma were seen having light moments, which showed the extent of the team’s bonding. Tasked with the responsibility by coach Andy Flower to review the performances of the batsmen, Jitesh did praise great performances – Jacob Bethell, Tim David – but could not resist cracking a joke on the state of Patidar’s performance. Jitesh was caught on camera saying in a cheeky moment “Rajat – nothing,” before the batting fingers continued in action.
The banter was in good spirits with Patidar saying, “Nothing bol raha hai,” meaning Jitesh was saying Rajat didn’t contribute much. Jitesh responded with a sharp jab, asking, “Batting mein kya ukhaada isne?” which translates to, “What did he even do with the bat?”
The match was a little dangerous for RCB, which was going for a target of 163 runs. They fell under the pressure of DC as it fell to 26 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 4 overs. With this type of onslaught, the rest of the batting for RCB was sorely put to the test; however, Virat Kohli really rose to the occasion, and Krunal Pandya partnered well with him. They scored 119 runs, which really helped settle the nerves down after that horrible start.
Virat focused on rotating the strike and trying to push it past the boundary whenever he had the chance. Ultimately, he left the field with 51 runs from 47 balls after he made an unsuccessful attempt at an inside-out shot. The ball was a perfect delivery from Dushmantha Chameera, who came at him perfectly to Mitchell Starc’s calm catch. The match could be all ups and downs that reflect the way the team was, but RCB is really proud of this!