Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma’s old video comparing Romario Shepherd’s strength to a “rhino” has resurfaced after the West Indies all-rounder’s second 14-ball 53 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
In one of the videos posted by RCB during an intra-squad match, Jitesh Sharma had said: “Insaan ke shareer mein rhino ki power (rhino’s power in a human body). I have never seen such power.”
True to Jitesh’s prediction, Shepherd slammed the second-fastest 50 of the IPL. Shepherd now joins the likes of KL Rahul (for PBKS in 2018) and Pat Cummins (for KKR in 2022) to have scored 14-ball fifties in the IPL. The record of 13 balls is held by Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“I have that attacking nature. And I have the strength. So I guess I am the rhino in the team. So I take that nickname head-on,” Shepherd told iplt20.com.
“I put in my shift. I had an idea of what they were trying to do. Was just trying to hit hard and flat. I had no time to gather information on the pitch, but I observed from the dugout, and our mentor had given us advice on what to do, so I had a head start.
“I knew how well Pathirana can bowl his yorker and how difficult it is to execute his slow ball.”
Shepherd has thanked RCB captain Rajat Patidar and Tim David for giving him the confidence.
“They told me I can take the bowler on, hit it all. It’s the way Rajat communicated; he made me feel, ‘I’m the guy’, gave me confidence,” he said.
The 30-year-old also explained where he generates the power from and how RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik helped him after a few failures.
Who’s that IPL player?
“My base and the way I swing. Timmy was telling me to just hold my shape and swing from there as the ball was holding,” he said at the post-match presentation.
“The first couple of games we were failing as a batting unit. DK took us and gave us specific work; it paid off today.
“I wasn’t thinking of a score, I was thinking ball by ball and trying to hit each ball for four or six. When I walked in, Timmy told me to relax and try, and I did exactly that.”
