India’s young batter Jitesh Sharma has been added to the Indian squad for the Asian Games which will be taking place in Hangzhou from September 23. On the back of his exceptional performances in the Indian Premier League, the 29-year-old batter got rewarded. However, this is not the first time that a Vidharbha-based player got a national call as he was selected as a replacement for Sanju Samson in the T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Jitesh recently disclosed the chat he had with the Indian head coach, Rahul Dravid, during his stint with Team India. He said that Dravid asked him to continue his natural batting.
“Yes, I had discussions with Rahul sir, when I was selected during the home season a few months back. He said ‘Jaise batting kar rahein ho, waise hi karte raho. Aur yehi dekh rahe hain hum future ke liye. Humein aise players hi chahiye is position ke liye.’ (The way you are batting, continue in the same vein. We are specifically looking for players like these for certain batting positions (Nos 5 and 6)," Jitesh was quoted as saying by News18.
During the last IPL, Jitesh played a vital role as a finish for the Punjab Kings, collecting 309 runs in 14 innings at an average of 23.76 and a strike rate of 156.06 with one half-century to his name. As of now, he has played 90 T20I matches in his career where he has scored 2096 runs at an average of 29.11 with one hundred and nine fifties under his belt.
The young wicketkeeper has also made 71 dismissals in the form of 57 catches and 14 stumpings, standing behind the wicket. Players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and his Punjab Kings teammate Prabhsimran Singh have also been named in India’s squad for the Asian Games. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be leading the Indian side in the prestigious tournament.
Notably, cricket was a part of two editions of the Asian Games in Guangzhou (2010) and Incheon (2014). Sri Lanka are the defending winners, while Bangladesh won in the inaugural edition.