Follow UsJitesh Sharma scored an unbeaten 33-ball 85 while Rishabh Pant smashed a century — 61-ball 118* during a Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) match in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Yet, according to former India batter Abhinav Mukund, Jitesh’s knock was better than that of Pant. Not only because it came in a winning knock, but more so because of the nature of the innings that Jitesh played.
Comparing how Jitesh learned from the mistakes of his side against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), where, after being ahead of the required rate, they collapsed, Mukund, on an ESPNcricinfo show, said, "And that's a great sign of any IPL cricketer, right?. They were 172 for 3 in the last game, chasing 232. They got 189 all out.”
“I know the wickets fell before him, but the pressure increased in the last game right after the timeout. I feared the same when he got out of that no-ball, but luck is a beautiful thing there. You get a reprieve, and then you say, 'okay, this time I'm not making a mistake again’,” he added, reminding people of how Jitesh was caught of a no-ball off Digvesh Rathi's bowling and how William O’Rourke missed a simple chance to run him out at the non-striker’s end.
Finally, putting his verdict out on which wicketkeeper-batter’s knock was better, the 35-year-old said, “On a night when your top wicketkeeper or your World Cup wicketkeeper [Pant] gets a hundred and everyone's happy, this guy's got one better, I would think, with 85* off 33."