RCB’s wicketkeeper batsman Jitesh Sharma takes an exceptional catch and dives to his right to dismiss Delhi Capitals’ in-form batsman Sameer Rizvi. This led to the third dismissal of experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has set the stage on fire at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending champions and have left no stone unturned in all three departments to prove why they are the best since last season. With their batting at its explosive best and the bowlers putting up some notable performances, what has set them apart from other franchises is their fielding.
Jitesh Sharma baffles Delhi Capitals, dismisses Sameer Rizvi with a blinder
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had already posed a big challenge of his own with the new ball as it did not let the batsmen free their arms and restricted them further with wickets. Nissanka was dismissed in the first over as Bhuvi pulled off a surprising move on the surface.
Having picked two wickets in his spell, Bhuvneshwar spun the ball further and threatened the outside edge of Sameer Rizvi’s bat. The in-form Delhi batsman deflected the ball off Jitesh Sharma, and the gloveman darted to his left, grabbing one out of nowhere.
Jitesh gave a masterclass in the game as it was a catch that could go down as one of the best catches of this TATA IPL season.
BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR – He is RCB’s perfection 😍
– Amazing catch by Salt & Jitesh. pic.twitter.com/SPQHfHZh6k
—Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 18, 2026
Phil Salt’s energy has been contagious in the RCB camp
The English batsman was not in his best form with the bat during England’s ICC T20 World Cup campaign last month; However, since he came to the IPL, he has slowly been regaining his best form. However, Salt’s contributions have been exceptional on the field, which has made him a star for RCB.
Starting from their first game and that impressive hold by Phil Salt to dismiss the set, Ishan Kishan and Salt have done many wonders on the field. There were also some notable steals in the last few games, such as dismissing Rishabh Pant in the last game.
Aside from these efforts on the field, Salt has had a massive work rate close to the limit and has kept the players motivated. The motivation could be seen transferring to Tim David when he made an impressive running-back catch in the last game, and now Jitesh Sharma has also shown glimpses of the inspiration.
KL Rahul is giving a masterclass against Josh Hazlewood
KL Rahul, the local boy from Karnataka, returned to play for Chinnaswamy on his birthday. Having played a spectacular knock on previous occasions at this venue and scored at an average of 70+, Rahul displays an impressive record at this venue.
Rahul has been dominating RCB’s bowlers despite losing wickets at the other end. Rahul followed the flow of runs, especially targeting one of RCB’s most economical bowlers, Josh Hazlewood. He took it for 27 runs in his first two overs. Rahul has also continued the attack carefully and beautifully against the spinners.
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