Who is Jitesh Sharma? PBKS player who is set to replace Sanju Samson in T20Is vs Sri Lanka

Jitesh Sharma plays for Vidarbha in the domestic circuit. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2015-2016 season.

Who is Jitesh Sharma? PBKS player who is set to replace Sanju Samson in T20Is vs Sri Lanka

Jitesh Sharma; Sanju Samson

India wicketkeeper Sanju Samson doesn’t get too many chances to get featured in the playing XI. He spent most of the time on the bench or sidelined last year. But when he did get an opportunity to feature in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, injury ruled him out.

However, he did play the first T20I against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. All he contributed was just five runs with the bat before Dhananjaya de Silva dismissed him. The Kerala batter then injured his knee while fielding, and now, he won’t play the remaining games. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Jitesh Sharma as Samson’s replacement on Wednesday (December 4).

Check BCCI’s post below:

The announcement did not fail to surprise as Jitesh was never in the reckoning to be in the squad. The absence of Rishabh Pant after his car crash and the unavailability of KL Rahul (as he will tie the knot with fiancée Athiya Shetty), and now Samson’s injury, has given the chance to Jitesh, who also dons the gloves.

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Who is Jitesh Sharma?

Jitesh Sharma
Jitesh Sharma

Jitesh Sharma plays for Vidarbha in the domestic circuit. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2015-2016 season. The 29-year-old has been a consistent performer for Vidarbha in white-ball cricket.

His maiden List A match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy came in 2014. He finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the 2015-16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

He made his debut for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), scoring 26 runs off 17 balls. He was part of the IPL giant Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2016 when the franchise signed him for INR 10 lakh, but did not play a match.

For PBKS, Sharma played 12 games so far, amassing 234 runs from 10 innings. His highest score was against Delhi Capitals when he scored 44 runs from 34 balls. PBKS roped him at the mega auction in 2022 for INR 20 lakh.

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