India Men Win Silver, Women Fourth at Inaugural CASA Rugby 7s 2026

Indian men win silver, women finish fourth at inaugural CASA Rugby 7s 2026

Tashkent, May 17

RCB produced a dominant all-round performance at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday, posting a massive 222/4 before restricting Punjab Kings to 199/8 despite a late fightback from Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis.

Jitesh, who led the side in the absence of regular captain Rajat Patidar, said the team always felt in control because they had a clear idea of how the pitch was behaving after batting first. "We were not under pressure, frankly speaking. We were in control. We know what we want to do on this wicket because we batted on that, and the batters had given very good feedback on what was working on that wicket," Jitesh said after the match.

RCB's batting unit laid the foundation for the victory through Virat Kohli's 58, Devdutt Padikkal's quickfire 45, and an unbeaten 73 from Venkatesh Iyer. The side accelerated strongly in the second half of the innings to cross the 220-run mark.

Jitesh explained that the team used the information from the first innings to plan specifically against Punjab Kings' key batters and execute accordingly with the ball.

"So we planned particularly for particular batsmen, and we were executing that properly," he added.

Jitesh also credited the experienced players in the RCB squad for supporting him during his captaincy stint and said it had been a valuable learning experience.

"We are privileged that they are playing for RCB, and with that, I have so many senior players to guide me in the centre when I'm doing captaincy for those bowlers. I think that's great. It's a great experience to play with those boys," he said.

The wicketkeeper-batter confirmed that Rajat Patidar is expected to return as captain for the next game, while reiterating that RCB's focus remains on taking one match at a time despite sealing a playoff berth.

"My actual skipper is doing really well. He's going to captain the next game. I think our RCB motto is very simple, one game at a time," he said.

"We are not thinking ahead or anything. We just want to play our best cricket in every match, that's it," he added.

Punjab Kings' chase suffered an early collapse as Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh cheaply before Rasikh Salam Dar removed skipper Shreyas Iyer. The hosts were reduced to 3/3 inside the first three overs, putting them under immediate pressure in the steep chase.

Although Shashank Singh smashed a rapid 56 off 27 deliveries and Marcus Stoinis contributed 37 off 25 balls, RCB's bowlers held their nerve in the closing stages. Rasikh finished with three wickets, while Bhuvneshwar and Josh Hazlewood delivered crucial breakthroughs.

— IANS