Royal Challengers Bengaluru wicket-keeper bat Jitesh Sharma has given credit to the franchise’s mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik for his recent turnaround. Sharma scored a blistering cameo of 19-ball 40 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, and played a key role in helping RCB post a par score of 221 runs on the board.
Jitesh is known to hit the ground running in the IPL and hardly takes a few balls to go for the big shots. Meanwhile, Jitesh had scored 187 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 17 and a strike rate of 131.69 while playing for Punjab Kings. The right-hander reckons he was thinking a bit too far ahead and thus could not deliver the goods.
“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 in a press conference in Bengaluru a day ahead of their encounter against Delhi Capitals.
Jitesh gave credit to Dinesh Karthik for helping him turn the tables and deliver for RCB.
“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.
Jitesh revealed that Karthik has given him a lot of confidence and has been backing him to play all around the ground.
“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,” says Jitesh who adds that his confidence is reliant on how he practices.
“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,” he said.
RCB will host DC in Bengaluru on Thursday.
