IPL 2025: RCB Nets Watch - Patidar, Jitesh Shine While Suyash Sharma Struggles

Hosa adhyaya

Naya Raj

Call it whatever, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are definitely ushering into a new era on the back of a very interesting captaincy decision. Rajat Patidar isn’t the prototype RCB skipper but has all the qualities to succeed for the longest time, given how much the dressing room respects him. 

The starting point of all RCB seasons are usually the ‘Unbox event’, where the faithful are introduced to the players. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, even from a cricketing sense, it usually is the first open net where you can watch these players go about their things. So, who did what? 

Rajat Patidar

Patidar couldn’t have asked for a better introduction; not like the faithful don’t know his potential. But for the ones unaware, he put on an absolute masterclass. Batting for nearly 30 minutes, or a little more, Patidar was at his fluent best, smashing every other delivery towards the mid-wicket boundary. 

Interestingly, there was a pattern: Patidar seemed to be more confident against the leg-spin. Unfortunately, Suyash Sharma was on the receiving end. In all, Patidar seemed ready to go.

Liam Livingstone

While we couldn’t catch a glimpse of Liam Livingstone's batting, we certainly witnessed Livingstone with the ball, trying to catch out the batters, including Tim David. Notably, he hit the straps immediately, bowled some challenging lines to the batters, and even troubled them on a few occasions. 

Tim David

Tim David certainly showed glimpses of destruction but failed to clear the boundaries on quite a few occasions, especially when the ball kept a bit low. David was also constantly in conversation with Dinesh Karthik (RCB’s batting coach). When it came to six-hitting competition though, David was up there as one of the best.

Jacob Bethell

With a question mark over Jacob Bethell’s fitness, none expected him to be ready this quickly. But the left-hander didn’t just look fit but also moved around like a fit man. The left-hander smashed some sublime hits down the ground during his nets and was also seen having a lengthy chat with DK. 

Romario Shepherd

RCB fans, you’d really want him in your playing XI -  at least that’s what the net session told us. Romario Shepherd was hitting sixes for fun and seemed to connect more than he missed. While he bowled just once or twice, it seemed like he was up and ready for the new season. 

Josh Hazlewood

One of the biggest surprises was Josh Hazlewood’s presence. While not involved in any of the competitions or the nets session, Hazlewood was present at the event. Towards the end, there seemed to be an indication that he was still trying to regain full fitness.

Suyash Sharma

Not the best practice session for Suyash, who was smashed every second delivery by Patidar. Overall, Suyash was one of the bowlers who bowled the most in the nets session, which could be a signal that he will start for RCB. But the leg-spinner still needs to find his momentum because he was taken apart for runs. 

Jitesh Sharma

Jitesh was quite electric in the open-net session. The Vidarbha man seemed to be timing the ball well, as seen in the six-hitting competition, where he was smashing them. Even without gloves, Jitesh showed why he should be included with his fielding efforts during the high-catch competition. 

Lungi Ngidi

Ngidi spent quite a bit of time in the nets honing his batting skills and almost managed to clear the boundary a couple of times. But largely didn’t get to bowl a lot in the main net and was only seen later on in the fun segment when he bowled some deliveries in the back-of-a-length region. 

Nuwan Thushara

While he might not have bowled a lot in the nets, Nuwan Thushara got one of the biggest cheers when he bowled a pinpoint yorker during the fun event. More often than not, the Sri Lankan pacer bowled fuller lengths whenever he had the ball in hand.

Rasikh Salam Dar

Like Thushara, we noticed Rasikh during the event. He was at his energetic best, taking out the pole with such joy. He was bowling at nearly full tilt, which is a positive sign for RCB, especially considering how bowling has historically been their weaker suit.