'God Has A Bigger Plan For Me': Punjab Kings Star After Being Ignored By Selectors For India Tour Of West Indies

The Punjab Kings star was one of the consistent performers in IPL 2023 but that did not help him get a spot in the Indian T20I squad for the West Indies tour.

Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan with teammate Jitesh Sharma and others during a practice session ahead of the IPL 2023 cricket match against Delhi Capitals, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Friday, May 12, 2023 ( Image Source :PTI )

Even though one of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) players had a great run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, he failed to make to India's squad for the West Indies T20Is. However, despite being overlooked by the national selectors, the cricketer is optimistic about his chances in the national team in the times to come. The player happens to be none other than Jitesh Sharma who has an overall IPL strike rate of 159.24. However, with wicketkeeper-batters Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson being trusted by the selectors, Jitesh failed to make the cut.

In a recent interview, he has now said that he believes that something big is in the store for him in the future which is why he is not too bothered after having missed out for a national selection this time. He gave a short response to the question regarding this in an interview.

"Just one sentence, God has a bigger plan for me," Jitesh told Cricket.com.

It is pertinent to note that Jitesh was part of the Indian contingent for the home series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. He shared his experiences of being in the national squad and the lessons learnt from head coach Rahul Dravid. 

"They were quite welcoming. Rahul (Dravid) sir told me that you are doing very well and these are the kind of players that we are looking for. When I told him that I want to score big runs, he told me that at the position you play, runs don't matter, impact matters. The more you contribute towards the win, that will be important for the team. When there's a collapse and you go out to bat around 7-8 overs, the team will be 4-5 wickets down, so you can't do much and just need to believe in your game. You have to take that score to a certain level so that the team can fight for it," the wicket-keeper batter added.