Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to Jitesh Sharma's stunning 85* in LSG vs RCB IPL 2025 match ft. Tom Moody 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma played a knock for the ages to steer the team into the top two of the Indian Premier Leagu (IPL) 2025 points table. He scored an unbeaten 85 runs off 33 deliveries as RCB chased down a franchise record 228 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday, May 27.

Jitesh Sharma was also leading the side, with Rajat Patidar featuring as an impact player due to injury concerns. The stand-in skipper led from the front with the bat after coming in during the 12th over of the run chase after Virat Kohli's dismissal.

He survived several close calls, but the made the most of it by staying till the end, and scaling the target in the penultimate over.

On that note, let us take a look at the top 5 expert reactions to Jitesh Sharma's stunning 85* in the LSG vs RCB IPL 2025 match.

#1 Aakash Chopra

The former India batter noted how this was Jitesh Sharma's first fifty in IPL despite making his debut three years ago. Prior to this knock, the wicket-keeper batter had been stranded in the 40s a total of five times. This is also only the second time in the IPL where he has availed the chance to face over 30 deliveries in an innings.

"His batting was terrific. He stayed till the end. In fact, it's his first IPL fifty. He had scored many forties. He had an infamous record to his name, that he had played so many knocks and scored more than 800 runs, and was the only such player not to have scored a fifty thus far," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

#2 Tom Moody

The former SRH coach branded Jitesh Sharma's heroics as the best knock of IPL 2025, rating it even higher than Vaibhav Suryavanshi and other stunning knocks over the course of the campaign. He praised the RCB stand-in captain for playing smart cricket anf getting the team over the line with some major names back in the pavilion.

"That innings is, for me, the innings of the IPL this season, by a stretch. We've seen some great knocks, from the young and old, but this one, quite remarkable. The backs were totally against the wall, Kohli in the sheds, Salt in the sheds, but he just ignored it all and took the game apart, not only apart, but he played smartly, just the way he went about it was like he had been there and done it before many many times," Moody said on ESPN Cricinfo.

#3 Mohammad Kaif

The former India cricketer noted that Jitesh Sharma justified the 11 crore price tag that RCB had paid for him during the IPL 2025 mega auction. The Vidarbha wicket-keeper batter was the most-expensive Indian acquisition for the franchise, and naturally became the first-choice wicket-keeper.

"When you bet on the right horse, you will get the returns. RCB had bought Jitesh Sharma for INR 11 crore at the auction. He mostly plays cameos, but RCB spent the money on him because there comes a time and a situation, when such a knock is needed. This match was completely gone out of RCB's hands, but Jitesh Sharma showed that he has the ability, He was made the captain because he has a cricketing brain," Kaif said in a video posted on X.

#4 Virender Sehwag

The former India opening batter praised Jitesh Sharma for stepping in to play a captain's knock during a time of crisis. He opined that RCB were the underdogs in the run chase after Kohli's dismissal, and that Jitesh managed to do the near-impossible.

"That was an outstanding innings. To win a match from that stage, that is not seen much, very few players are able to pull that off. That was an unbelievable innings. This was a captain's knock, every captain wishes that he guides the team to the top of the table, and he did that today. No one had thought that the target, with the required rate of over twelve runs an over would be chased down," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

#5 Manoj Tiwary

The former India batter noted how RCB have had some huge names in the past, but opined that knocks like these from players who are under the radar when compared to the rest, makes a massive difference.

"Many star players have played for RCB over the last 18 years, AB de Villers has performed well, Chris Gayle has done well, and Kohli is still doing it, but this knock that Jitesh Sharma has played in a must-win game, I still cannot believe he has pulled this off. The way he played as captain, hats off to him," Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.