Jitesh Sharma’s lack of game awareness cost Royal Challengers Bengaluru dear against Lucknow Super Giants

If instead of being adventurous, the RCB vice-captain had been a bit circumspect, RCB would have gone top of the table.

There is a thin line between confidence and overconfidence. Confidence comes with awareness but overconfidence comes without it. On Thursday night at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, when Jitesh Sharma joined the dangerous-looking Rajat Patidar, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, chasing 213 to win (on DLS), were nicely placed.

Jitesh Sharma should have been circumspect. (PTI)

RCB were 104/3 in 10.1 overs, needing 109 more to win in 53 balls. That’s not the kind of equation that freaks out batsmen in the Indian Premier League (IPL) these days. However, it wasn’t a belter by any means. One had to spend some time to get going.

Jitesh Sharma had the examples of Mitchell Marsh and Patidar. Marsh, the centurion of the game, played very cautiously in the second half of his innings. His fifty had come off 20 balls. His century off 49. True, the rain breaks also broke his momentum, but it was not an easy pitch to bat on. He respected the conditions, and it paid off: he got his second century of the IPL.

Patidar had shown a similar approach. RCB had lost Jacob Bethell and Virat Kohli inside two overs, and Patidar showed immense fortitude at the start of his innings. He wasn’t after every ball; he was only after the bad ones. And once he settled down, he started toying with bowlers; his sixes of tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav were particularly fierce.

So, all Jitesh had to do was keep Patidar company a bit longer. However, his approach was very casual, and even though he had played just two balls, he went for a high-risk shot. Prince Yadav, who had removed Devdutt Padikkal earlier in the over, steamed in and unleashed an accurate bouncer. If Jitesh was conditions and match-situation aware, he would have ducked under it. But since he wasn’t, he went for a very bold high pull shot. A top edge and Rishabh Pant ran backwards to complete a rather comfortable catch.

RCB fought but the damage was already done!

Jitesh was gone just like that, and if truth be told, the complexion of the match changed thereafter. Quick wickets often rattle an innings, especially in a chase. That’s exactly what happened. The RCB came under pressure straight after his wicket. The momentum was gone, and in the very next over, 12th of the innings, Patidar was gone too as he found Aiden Markram at long-off off Shahbaz Ahmed. The match was over right there.

Yes, extraordinary things happen in cricket, particularly in the IPL. And Tim David and Krunal Pandya got a little close to pulling it off, but it wasn’t easy right from the outset. The asking rate kept creeping up.

One lapse from Jitesh cost RCB the game!

This entire season, the RCB vice-captain has been awfully out of form. In 10 matches so far, he has scored just 64 runs. That’s very poor output, especially from a vice-captain.

One’s form can elude them but one’s smarts shouldn’t; sadly, Jitesh's form and smarts both eluded him at once. That shot was really unbecoming of him. Eventually, RCB lost by only 9 runs. Imagine if Jitesh had shown some game awareness.