Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel reckons Jitesh Sharma is on the cusp of sealing his place in the T20 World Cup squad. Sharma is known to hit the ground running in the shortest format of the game and takes the attack on the opposition bowlers from the get-go.
The right-hander scored a fine knock of 31 runs off just 20 balls in the opening T20I against Afghanistan but he was dismissed for a duck in the second game. Jitesh has scored 100 runs in seven T20I innings at an average of 14.29 and a strike rate of 147.06. Furthermore, Jitesh has impressed with his glovework behind the stumps.
Parthiv Patel said on JioCinema, “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.”
The former India wicketkeeper-batter added: “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.”
Patel showered praise on Sharma for his impressive knock in the first T20I against Afghanistan. The former Gujarat player feels Sharma played according to the match situation.
“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.”
The third and last T20I of the series between India and Afghanistan will be played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Wednesday.
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