Royal Challengers Bengaluru stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma gave credit to franchise’s mentor Dinesh Karthik after they registered a thumping six-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants at Lucknow in the ongoing IPL 2025 on Tuesday. 

Chasing a huge target of 228 runs for the win to secure their place in the first qualifier, RCB were in a spot of bother when they lost the wicket of well-settled Virat Kohli after he made 54 runs. 

Sharma joined forces with Mayank Agarwal, who had hit the ground running. For RCB to come any closer to the target, Sharma knew he had to play his natural game. The RCB wicket-keeper bat smashed 85 runs off just 33 balls with the help of eight fours and six maximums and scored his runs at a whirlwind strike rate of 257.58. Thus, he played an instrumental role in RCB’s highest successful run-chase in the IPL history.

The 31-year-old was awarded Player of the Match and revealed Karthik has been giving him a lot of confidence about finishing the game for the franchise.

Jitesh Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “I can’t express my thoughts, I was thinking about just staying in the present. When Virat got out I thought of taking the game deep and that is what my mentor (Dinesh Karthik) tells me that the kind of calibre I have I can finish the game from any situation.”

Sharma said he enjoys playing with players like Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who have got all the experience under their belt.

Jitesh added, “This is a very big franchise and I am enjoying the pressure and when I see these players (like Virat, Krunal and Bhuvi) I feel excited that I am getting to play with these players. We will enjoy this moment and whatever momentum we got in this game, we will take it forward.”

RCB will take on Punjab Kings in the first qualifier at New Chandigarh on Thursday.