Playing for Punjab Kings in IPL 2024, Jitesh Sharma had a poor season, registering five single-digit scores in 12 innings. However, in IPL 2025, he’s already had a great show in RCB’s improved batting unit with a couple of cameos in the middle-order, and one of the impactful ones was a 19-ball 40 against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede as well.
“I think last year’s performance was my mental thing. I have told everyone about that because I was not mentally in the game at that moment. I was thinking about future things,” said Jitesh Sharma in a press conference in Bengaluru a day ahead of their match against Delhi Capitals.
However, he also credits RCB’s mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik largely for the turnaround he’s had so far this season as well.
“When I went to Dinesh bhai, he told me that it’s a human error. It’s not rocket science. It doesn’t happen to anyone. It happens to everyone. When he saw my batting, the way I bat, how I try to dominate – I am someone who always looks for the winning, I don’t have the craze to get runs. I have the craze to win matches. I like that a lot. He found out that I am lacking in some shots. He found out that I am working on that,” said Jitesh Sharma.
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“It’s been a great journey till now. Because in off-season, I really worked hard with him [Karthik],” he says. “Whichever shot I am playing right now is a replica of what he used to play. He is trying to create me as [sic] a new player because he believes in me that I can play all around the 360 angles. I am really enjoying to see myself in a new role. While I am playing those shots, I am very happy because I have never tried those shots. I am able to execute and all the backing he has for me. It’s a wonderful journey. I am very excited still now,” he again shared.
However, in the 40* that he got against MI, he nearly single-handedly took the team to a decent total. He scored 24 off the eight balls he faced from Trent Boult in the last five overs. It helped RCB register their second-highest total at the Wankhede as well.
“My confidence doesn’t rely on the score. It always depends on my process and how I train in my practice. Because if I have confidence in the end result, then the variables keep changing. So I mostly keep my confidence high in the practice only. We are playing very smart cricket. We are not just going and whacking every bowler. We know everyone’s strength. In the batting lineup, we know each other very well and the team management has given a proper role like Jitesh Sharma will go after certain bowlers, that kind of strategy we have. So we are going very smartly. We are not trying to dominate blindly. We are taking every decision smartly,” Jitesh Sharma concluded.
