Team India witnessed a forgettable outing in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. After losing the first two matches of the tournament (against Pakistan and New Zealand), they exited the tournament despite winning the remaining games. T20 World Cup 2022, The marquee ICC tournament will take place in Australia this time. The tournament will be commencing on October 16 while the final will be scheduled on November 13.
The teams are divided in two groups named Group A and Group B. The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is providing all the young Indian players to make a mark and get in the contention for the marquee tournament. This season has featured some exciting young players – Ayush Badoni, Tilak Verma, Mohsin Khan and so on.
Former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag has come up with a unique choice of player for the back wicket-keeper’s role for the upcoming T20 World Cup. During an interaction with Cricbuzz, The 43-year-old backs Jitesh Sharma, The young PBKS sensation to play the role.
Jitesh Sharma has managed to catch some limelight after playing some crucial knocks for the Punjab Kings. The right-hander has scored 162 runs in 6 innings with the average of 32.6, He has a strike rate of 167 so far in the season. He has played a couple of brilliant cameos for the Agarwal-led side.
Describing the same, Virender Sehwag said, “No doubt, brilliant batting. He was impressed. Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, and Wriddhiman Saha are all wicketkeeper-batters, but of all, Jitesh Sharma has impressed me the most. He has a fearless style of batting, He just expresses himself. He knows his zones, he knows the shots he has to play.”
He furtehr added, “The six he hit Yuzvendra Chahal.. it reminded me of VVS Laxman when he hit Shane Warne for a six through midwicket. It was a wonderful batting performance, he has impressed me a lot. If it was in my hands, I would take him as a backup wicketkeeper-batter to Australia.”
Here is how the fans reacted to the suggestion of Virender Sehwag:
Jitesh Sharma has been, by a million miles, the bargain of the 2022 auction
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) May 7, 2022
Jitesh Sharma is doing what Shahrukh Khan was presumed to do for Punjab Kings.
— Shivani Shukla (@iShivani_Shukla) May 7, 2022
Jitesh Sharma supermacy 👊 pic.twitter.com/QVpDXtGbEG
— Elon Mishra (@mishraaop) May 7, 2022
Yousuf Pathan vibes in those shots over off side from Jitesh Sharma.
— ∆ 🏏 (@CaughtAtGully) May 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/sanchi2social/status/1522907079752962048?s=20&t=5XpHB95H2mEUoslZ_HUqwg
Jitesh Sharma in #IPL2022
162 runs
32.40 average
167 SRHe’s doing the job which PBKS expected Shahrukh Khan will do before the season.
— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) May 7, 2022