Drama in the 19th Over: Jitesh's Smart Review Sparks RCB’s Stunning Comeback at Chinnaswamy

IPL 2025: In IPL 2025, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finally meet the expectations of fans who were waiting for a long time. Breaking the losing streak at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the team defeated Rajasthan Royals by 19 runs to register their first home win of the season. Virat Kohli's return to form, Hazelwood's lethal bowling and most importantly, wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma's brilliant wisdom played a decisive role in this victory.

Kohli-Padikkal's steady start, Jitesh's stormy finish

Bengaluru won the toss and batted first to post a challenging score of 205 runs.Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gave the team a strong start by scoring brilliant half-centuries. After both of them were out, when it seemed that the pace of the innings would stop, then Jitesh Sharma gave a strong finish to the innings by hitting 20 runs in just 10 balls.

Rajasthan's hopes were pinned on Jurel

running after the target of 206 runs, Rajasthan Royals also fell down off to a strong start Although there were some setbacks in the middle order, but Dhruv Jurel stood firm at one end and scored 47 runs in 34 balls to lead the team to victory. Only 17 runs were needed in the last two overs and it seemed that Rajasthan would win this match easily.

The picture of the match changed in the 19th over

Josh Hazlewood changed the complete picture of the match in the 19th over.  Jurael missed the third ball, which was a fast yorker thrown outside the off stump - before getting caught. The ball went straight into the gloves of wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. Everyone started preparing for the next ball, but Jitesh started appealing.

The surprising thing was that no one was in favor of appealing, but Jitesh explained to captain Rajat Patidar that the ball had touched the back of the bat. The captain took DRS and the snickometer clearly showed that Jitesh's eyes were not deceiving him Jurel was out and Rajasthan's hopes faded away..

 Hazelwood's havoc and Yash Dayal's seal

Hazelwood  took the wicket of Jofra Archer in the same over and the opponent were able to take only one run in the over. Rajasthan needed 17 runs in the last over, but Yash Dayal bowled brilliantly and put the victory in RCB's bag.

Jitesh again became the 'secret hero'

This is not the first time that Jitesh Sharma's cricketing wisdom has come in handy for RCB. Earlier also, the DRS taken on his advice against Mumbai Indians proved helpful in dismissing Ryan Rickelton.

 RCB moving forward with confidence

With this victory, RCB broke the old myth of defeat on the home ground and stood firmly in the playoff race. The biggest message of the match was that not only big scores or wickets, but also wise calls taken at the right time can change the fate of the team and this is what Jitesh Sharma did.