The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 witnessed a spectacular match on May 27 at Ekana Stadium where Jitesh Sharma not only played an important role in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team but also etched his name in the history books as he scored an incredible unbeaten 85 in just 33 balls.
This whole activity can be seen as a series of events where Jitesh Sharma’s innings became the first time an RCB wicketkeeper-batter played an innings of such high score in the IPL. So let’s now revisit the stories of previous RCB wicketkeeper-batters whose scores were less than Jitesh’s but still commendable.
Highest Scores By RCB Wicketkeeper in IPL
5. KL Rahul – 68 Runs
Royal Challengers Bangalore went against Mumbai Indians in the 41st match of IPL at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 11, 2016. KL Rahul had an amazing innings contributing 68 runs with 53 balls remaining not out for RCB. He was batting at position four and came to bat after the quick wickets of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle.
With his patience and composed manner, he was able to stabilize the innings. He played the ball on its merit having hit 3 fours and 4 sixes finishing with a strike rate of 128.30. RCB could only score 151 runs in their 20 overs, 4 wickets down and despite KL’s efforts, Mumbai Indians managed to chase the target down with 8 balls to spare.
4. AB de Villiers – 76 Runs
In the 10th match of the IPL held in MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, RCB met KKR on April 18, 2021. Batting first, AB de Villiers lit the RCB innings with an extraordinary unbeaten knock of 76 runs off just 34 balls.
His innings of 76 runs comprised 9 fours and 3 sixes and scored at an unbelievable strike rate of 223.52, thereby securing his team a very demanding total of 204/4 in 20 overs.
3. Srikar Bharat – 78 runs
On the 8th of October, 2021, the IPL’s 56th match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium saw Royal Challengers Bangalore go up against Delhi Capitals. Srikar Bharat was the major contributor to RCB with his 78 runs scored off 52 balls and he remained not out.
Bharat came in at 6-2 after the early wickets of Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli. He played a solid and calm inning and basically saw the team through with his batting skills. His runs came from 3 fours and 4 sixers and his scoring rate was 150.00 which facilitated RCB to achieve the target of 165 runs without losing a ball.
2. Dinesh Karthik – 83 runs
On April 15, 2024, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the 30th match of the IPL was played between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The match was a high-scoring thriller wherein Dinesh Karthik for RCB made the most of his limited time at the crease by almost single-handedly scoring 83 runs off just 35 balls.
Karthik came in at a critical stage after a middle-order collapse and counter-attacked with aggressive intent, hitting 5 fours and 7 sixes at a staggering strike rate of 237.14. His brilliant innings was in vain as RCB still fell short of the target and ended up with a total of 262/7 which was 25 runs less than what was required.
1. Jitesh Sharma – 85 runs
In IPL 2025, the star batsman Jitesh Sharma continued his brilliant form with an 85 off 33 balls in the match between RCB against LSG. It was a steep chase of 228 runs and he came in when the wickets were falling quickly yet he took the pressure off RCB by his explosive knock and led them to Qualifier 1.
A rapid-fire of fours and sixes was part of his innings which eventually made RCB the winning side. He smashed his half-century off merely 22 deliveries and eventually finished the match with a six through the leg side in the 19th over, as RCB done the third-highest successful chase in the tournament’s history.
