Get to know about Jitesh Sharma, Sanju Samson’s replacement in the Indian T20I squad against Sri Lanka
Indian wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson who was a part of the Indian team in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, has been ruled out of the squad after he suffered a knee injury while fielding. The Kerala batter also had a disappointing outing with the bat as he could only manage to score five runs.
The Indian Cricket Board confirmed the development on Wednesday evening and announced Jitesh Sharma as his replacement. It was a surprising call by the Indian Cricket Board as Jitesh was never speculated to be in the mix but with Rishabh Pant’s accident and KL Rahul’s unavailability, the Punjab franchise wicketkeeper-batter will join the Indian dressing room.
Who is Jitesh Sharma?
Jitesh Sharma made his name while playing for Punjab but he was a part of the Mumbai franchise squad in 2017. He, however, did not get a game. He made his Indian T20 League debut in the previous edition against Chennai, during which he scored a 17-ball 26. The wicketkeeper-batter has so far made 12 appearances for Punjab, in which he accumulated 234 runs from 10 innings, with a 34-ball 44 against Delhi being his highest score.
He represents Vidarbha in the domestic circuit and has been one of their most consistent performers.
After a solid outing in the 2012-13 Cooch Behar Trophy, Jitesh was added to the Vidarbha senior team. He had scored 537 runs in 12 innings in the Cooch Behar Trophy. He then went on to make his T20 debut in March 2014, he would play his first List A match in the same season during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Sharma was one of Vidarbha’s mainstays in limited-over cricket, where he mostly batted in the top order.
The following year was even better for Jitesh as he finished as the third-highest run scorer in the 2015-16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The right-handed batter then accumulated 343 runs at a healthy strike rate of over 140, which also included a ton and two half-centuries.
The wicketkeeper was then acquired by Indian T20 League heavyweights Mumbai for ₹10 lakh in the 2016 auction. He also made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2015-16 season but failed to create a lasting impact.
Jitesh’s services were later acquired by Punjab in the 2022 mega auction when the franchise roped him for ₹20 lakh.
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