Who is Jitesh Sharma? All you need to know about India's new T20I wicket-keeper

Jitesh Sharma made his India T20I debut in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

In a trial mode, Indian team management made a bulk of changes against Australia in the 4th T20I games at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Raipur. In a major change, Jitesh Sharma has been given the opportunity to keep wickets for India in place of Ishan Kishan. Jitesh Sharma has been a terrific player in Indian domestic cricket as well as in the Indian Premier League and did a magnificent job for Punjab Kings in the past two seasons. 

JItesh Sharma made his international debut for Team India two months back in the Asian Games where India came out with a glorious Gold Medal. He has played 3 T20I games for India so far in his career and got the chance to bat only once. His terrific finishing ability plus agility in wicket-keeping has prompted the selectors to look at him for upcoming big tournaments. Jitesh will also look to grab the opportunity he has been given with both hands. 

Who is Jitesh Sharma?

Jitesh Sharma belongs to India’s west coast state of Maharashtra. Sharma was born on 22nd October 1993 in Amaravati a district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. He represents Vidarbha in Indian domestic cricket and recently represented in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Jitesh loved playing cricket since his childhood and clubbed cricket as a profession with his passion after class 12. He gave up his studies to play cricket and now he is representing his national side. 

Vidarbha’s wicket-keeper made his professional debut in Indian domestic cricket in February 2014 against Rajasthan in a List-A game. Till now he has played 17 first-class games, 47 List-A games, and 100 T20 games in his career. He has represented the Punjab Kings in the IPL 2022 and 2023 and batted with an impressive strike rate of over 150. So far he has scored 543 runs in 26 games for Punjab Kings and played a crucial finisher role. 

Talking about the fourth T20I between India and Australia, India got off to a decent start as Yashasvi Jaiswal once again took on the Australian bowling attack. Jaiswal (37) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) added 50 runs for the first wicket but Australia made a roaring comeback after the first wicket. Shreyas Iyer (8) and skippier Suryakumar Yadav (1) failed miserably in the innings and India lost these two wickets in the span of two overs. Australia’s Tanveer Sangha is doing a magnificent job with the ball in Raipur. 

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