With a fine performance in this year’s IPL, including a quick-fire innings of 24 runs off ten balls in the final, wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma has made his return to the Indian T20I team for the upcoming Asia Cup. Sharma, who made his T20I debut for India at the Asian Games in 2023, had played nine T20Is before being dropped from the team in 2024. However, the 31-year-old has returned to the side after this year’s IPL, where he scored 261 runs at an average of 37.29 and a strike rate of 176.35, donning the finisher’s role for champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Former Indian cricketer and now Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik has shared how Sharma did not want to put too much pressure on himself by thinking about playing for India, an approach that worked well for the wicketkeeper-batsman.
“This was part of his questioning to me: ‘I want to do well. Obviously, I want to try and represent India. But I don’t want to get too caught up and put so much pressure on myself that I’m not enjoying playing wherever I am.’ And our journey as coach and player very much started there as well, you know, having those conversations,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
The 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman first played in the IPL in 2022 when he was picked up by Punjab Kings, scoring 234 runs at an average of 29.25 and a strike rate of 163.64. Sharma followed that with 309 runs at an average of 23.77 and a strike rate of 156.06 in the 2023 IPL. His performances earned him a place in the Indian T20I side for the Asian Games, and he went on to play nine T20Is for India before being dropped. Sharma scored 187 runs with an average of 17 and a strike rate of 131.69 in the 2024 IPL, and this mediocre performance meant he missed out on a spot in the Indian T20I team for the ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
Karthik, who was part of the RCB team as a player in last year’s IPL, recalls meeting Sharma in Dharamshala during the season and the conversation they had. “I think he was never someone who was desperate to play for India. He was very free and he went about playing very confidently for Kings, and then made it to the Indian team. And then he knew that he was on the fringes when he didn’t do as well, and the T20 World Cup 2024 was around the corner. That’s when he became desperate. That kind of filtered into his performances which weren’t as good as he wanted them to be, and he put himself under immense pressure.. I was quite fond of the kid. Because he was very honest, very earnest, and wanted to really improve and do well. But I think it got to a point where he wasn’t sure how to move forward from there. I just took note of it and kept it,” recalled Karthik.
Sharma was bought by RCB for Rs 11 crore in last year’s mega auction and was also made the team’s vice-captain for this year’s IPL. This year, Sharma scored a total of 261 runs with an average of 37.29 and a strike rate of 176.35. It was also his second-highest tally of runs in the IPL, and the wicketkeeper-batsman played some crucial knocks for the team, including an unbeaten 85 off 33 balls against Lucknow Super Giants that took his team to Qualifier 1, followed by a quick-fire 24 off ten balls in the final against Punjab Kings for the champions.
Karthik recalled what Sharma wanted to work on under him. “What he wanted to work on was: how do I finish a game? How do I get the team to above par? He was playing a lot of cameos, never knowing how to play that big innings required to win a game or take the team to a strong total in the first innings. I kind of know what it takes to do that. With the skills he had, there was so much potential that I just needed to unlock it,” Karthik added.
Good vertical swing
The former Indian batsman also shared how people see similarities between his style of play and Sharma’s, but highlighted how they are different in their strengths. “I think everybody thinks he and I are very similar as players, but actually, we are very different. He was someone who could hit very well down the ground. He had a very good vertical swing. But what he didn’t have too much of was any sort of innovative shots. It was almost a taboo because I think wherever he played, everybody had told him: you have so many good shots down the ground. Why would you try and do things behind? You need to try and understand what your strengths are,” concluded Karthik.
