Former India player Parthiv Patel feels Jitesh Sharma is on the verge of getting a chance in India’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, Jitesh is one of the two wicketkeeper-batters, with Sanju Samson being the other, in India’s 16-member squad for the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan as well. He was preferred over Samson for the first two games.
During a discussion on JioCinema, Patel said: “Yes, they are definitely doing that and the reason for that is the number of openers or top-order batters we have in the Indian team. There is a sort of traffic jam at the top because you have Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is injured, and Shubman Gill, who opened in the first match. So India’s option is probably to have a wicketkeeper who can bat down the order. If you have to bat down the order, you need a destructive batter. The way Jitesh Sharma is playing, he is a very good option and I feel his ticket to the World Cup has started getting printed slightly.”
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However, Parthiv Patel again added that Jitesh is seemingly the only middle-order wicketkeeper-batter option available for India. He added that the other contenders – Sanju Samson, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan – bat in the top order. Parthiv Patel also applauded Jitesh Sharma for playing as per the demands of the situation in the first T20I against Afghanistan as well.
“The sample size is very small, but when he came to bat in the first T20I, he came before the 10th over. I feel he understood the situation very well and played according to that. He didn’t have to bat the way he usually does. He had to settle a little, keep the strike rate slightly low, and then play his shots. It means he showed another dimension as well, that he can also build an innings,” Parthiv Patel concluded.
