Jitesh Sharma's unusual 'sometimes losing is good' comment lands poorly with fans after RCB's defeat to SRH
RCB stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma said “sometimes it's good to lose” after the franchise lost the encounter against SunRisers Hyderabad at Ekana.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) chances of making the top two received a severe blow as the side lost the encounter against SunRisers Hyderabad by 42 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match at the Ekana on Friday. With this loss, RCB slipped to the third spot in the standings, and the franchise is now at the mercy of other results going their way if they are to make the top two.
Despite Virat Kohli and Phil Salt putting on 80 runs for the opening wicket, RCB failed to chase down the target of 232. RCB lost their final seven wickets for just 16 runs to hand SunRisers Hyderabad a comprehensive win.
However, RCB's stand-in captain, Jitesh Sharma, was optimistic about the team's chances in the tournament, saying it's good that a loss has come as it will give the team a proper chance for introspection and work out their shortcomings.
“Yes, we were rusty. The intensity was not there initially. After the 6-7 overs mark, we were there. In the death, we were bowling more accurately and more precise. But it's good to lose this game, I feel,” said Jitesh.
“Sometimes losing a game is a very good sign because you can check and analyse where you are lacking. If you keep winning, you don't see your mistakes, and you keep going with the flow. The positive thing is that everyone's chipping in. After this loss, we will see how the setup is. We will move forward from here,” he added.
Jitesh Sharma had earlier won the toss and opted to bowl first. However, SRH batters smashed RCB all around the park to post 231/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Ishan Kishan remained unbeaten on 94 off 48 balls, while Abhishek Sharma and Aniket Verma also chipped in with handy knocks of 34 and 26, respectively.
“I think it was 20-30 runs extra. They played really well. In the powerplay, they really attacked us. I didn't have any answers for their attack. But my bowlers really did well but yes, 15-20 runs extra,” said Jitesh.
It must be mentioned that Jitesh's “sometimes losing is good” comment has not gone down well with some of the fans on social media and the right-handed wicketkeeper-batter is being trolled for the same.
Tim David's injury scare
RCB are also sweating over Tim David. The big-hitting Australian picked up an injury while fielding. He was running around at the boundary on the leg side in the last over of the SRH innings. The incident happened when Ishan Kishan hit a Yash Dayal full toss behind square and David sprinted towards the fine leg boundary.
David was seen hobbling off soon after and Jacob Bethell replaced him for the remaining five balls of the over. The right-handed batter then came out to bat at No.8. However, he was able to score just 1 run off five balls.
Jitesh Sharma was unable to provide any update on David, saying he was not able to check up on him during his batting innings as he was upset after getting out.
“Right now, I haven't met Tim David because I was upset I got out. I was in that zone so I have not met him,” said Jitesh.
RCB will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their final league stage match on Tuesday, May 27.
