Jitesh Sharma hails Rasikh Salam Dar’s off-season perseverance after stellar bowling performance

Rasikh Salam Dar was instrumental for RCB in the match against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, registering his best spell in the IPL. His figures of 4/24 left Lucknow wobbling. He claimed the crucial wickets of Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Mukul Choudhary and Avesh Khan, spearheading the RCB bowling charge.

Talking in the pre-match presser, RCB’s vice-captain, Jitesh Sharma, opened up on how Rasikh has prepared for the high-intensity season.

Shedding light on Rasikh’s excellent spell, Sharma said, “The skills that are now evident, he already had them. He is learning how to use them. When you get a good mentor, a good coach and a good atmosphere, you learn to utilise your full range of weapons. Then you sharpen your weapons and use them.”

Reminiscing how Dar honed himself in the domestic circuit, Jitesh added, “He played with me for Baroda in the domestic circuit. He worked extensively on his yorkers and slower ones. He also knows when the IPL comes, you will always have to be perfect. You have to play at a high intensity where errors are frequent. You have to practice so hard that it should be ingrained in your muscle memory so that whenever you are in a pressure-situation, it should come to you naturally.”