Jitesh Sharma ended up with a combination of a hockey-style drag-flick and scoop, mixing it with the cricketing sweep shot to send the white ball flying into the night sky. (BCCI)There were 25 sixes in the thriller between RCB and Mumbai Indians on Monday night at the Wankhede stadium but there was one shot from Jitesh Sharma that was very special in its conception and execution.
It came in the first ball of the 19th over bowled by Trent Boult, who had served it up really full and well outside off. Jitesh had shuffled across the stumps, bent his knee to swoop low. The length and the line demanded those acrobatic yogic pose but the end result wasn’t still quite obvious. As he sunk to his knee, he realised he had to keep going down to get under the ball, but now with a deep midwicket fielder in place, he had to also get enough power from his wrists to send the ball soaring over to the stands.
He ended up with a combination of a hockey-style drag-flick and scoop, mixing it with the cricketing sweep shot to send the white ball flying into the night sky. Sunil Gavaskar voiced the question in the minds of those who watched it: ‘Is it a scoop or a pull?” His co-commentator Ravi Shastri would add, “it’s also a sweep”.
Nobody talks about Jitesh Sharma scored 40* Runs in 19 Balls.
He scored 24 Runs in 8 Balls against Trent Boult in death Overs his Six hitting ability is Amazing against Pacers. pic.twitter.com/O74qBwEudy
— Vikas Yadav (@VikasYadav69014) April 8, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It was a shot reminiscent of what Pakistan’s Moin Khan would often deploy during his international career. Great fast bowlers such as Allan Donald and Glenn McGrath have suffered the fate from Moin’s hands, and he would occasionally end up being sprawled on the ground on completion.
It was a shot necessitated by Mumbai Indians’s strategy to bowl well outside off, almost at the wide line. Both Hardik Pandya and Boult tried it, but both were smashed around by the adventurous duo of Jitesh and Rajat Patidar. It was left to Jasprit Bumrah who bowled at the stumps, mixing near-yorkers with surprise bouncers to keep the batsmen at bay, yielding just 14 runs in his final two overs.
Get latest updates on IPL 2025 from IPL Points Table to Teams, Schedule, Most Runs and Most Wickets along with live cricket score updates for all matches. Also get Sports news and more cricket updates.
3 min read
