‘He already had these skills, now he is learning how to use them’ – Jitesh Sharma on Rasikh Salam after stellar outing in RCB vs LSG tie

Rasikh Salam bowled a match-winning spell for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, April 15. The right-arm seamer bagged a four-for and conceded just 24 runs in his four overs.

After the home side chased down a 147-run target with five wickets and 4.5 overs to spare, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma said that Rasikh had the skills he has been showcasing for a long time, but now, he is learning how to use them. The former credited the environment in the RCB camp and the presence of esteemed coaches and mentors, who have helped Rasikh bring his A-game to the fore.

“He already had these skills that you’re seeing now, but what he has learned recently is how to use them. When you get a good mentor, a good coach, and a good environment, you begin to understand how to use the weapons you have. When to use them, where to use them, and whether they are even required,” Jitesh said at the post-match press conference.

“After that, you keep sharpening those weapons. When he played with me for Baroda, he worked a lot on his yorkers and slower ones. At that level, errors happen, but if you practice so much that it becomes muscle memory, then in matches things start coming naturally,” Jitesh said.

Apart from Rasikh, Bhuvneshwar bowled a brilliant spell, as he finished with figures of 3/27. Krunal Pandya also chipped in with two scalps. However, the Player of the Match award went to Josh Hazlewood, who picked up the big wicket of Nicholas Pooran and bowled with tremendous discipline inside the power play to build pressure on the LSG batters.

In the run chase, RCB lost the wicket of Phil Salt early, but Virat Kohli played the anchor’s role with a sedate 49 off 34 balls. Rajat Patidar and Jitesh played whirlwind cameos before Tim David and Romario Shepherd took the team home in the 16th over.