Jitesh Sharma could well have been the next big thing for India in T20I cricket, till IPL 2024, where there was little sign of the exhilarating run-scorer from the two previous seasons. From the outside, it feels like he has slipped down the pecking order, though the T20Is in South Africa give him a chance to recover lost ground.
Part of the problem for his dry run, he says, is that he had "started thinking too far ahead" after IPL 2023 and his international debut and was "thinking of the [2024] T20 World Cup team". He has course-corrected but, as he says, there were other reasons for his turn in fortunes too.
"I know I play very high-risk cricket. There are a lot of risks in my shot selection," Jitesh told ESPNcricinfo. "My batting number also kept changing… though that is not that important in T20 cricket. However, apart from all this, I had started thinking too far ahead. About IPL 2024, and the T20 World Cup team. Before that, I never used to think that far ahead. I used to think about one match at a time, and now I have started doing that again."
Jitesh took his time coming into prominence, but when he did, after prolific back-to-back IPL seasons for Punjab Kings in 2022 (234 runs at a strike rate of 163.64) and 2023 (309 runs at a strike rate of 156.06), he made it count. He was in the India T20I side for the tour of Sri Lanka, and though he didn't get a game there, he did at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and then in bilateral series at home against Australia and Afghanistan, and away against South Africa.
Then came that period when he got ahead of himself, as he put it, and IPL 2024 came and went without much from his bat. All Punjab Kings, who finished ninth on the table, got from their vice-captain was 187 runs in 12 innings, and the strike rate had dipped to 131.69. He isn't wrong about his batting position - he went out everywhere from Nos. 4, 5, 6 and even 7.
"In T20s, as a batsman, you cannot say you will play only at four or five or whatever. You can assume that in a match, if there is a very good partnership between the openers and they bat for 16 overs, then the next batsman to come will definitely be a finisher," Jitesh said. "In T20s, the overs remaining are more important than a batsman's batting position. If wickets fall in the third, fourth or fifth over itself, then you go with the normal order. But if wickets fall late, then you go with the finisher.
"However, I can definitely say this about myself, or any batsman, that if I know after how many overs I have to go to bat and I am given good clarity about my role, then it is better."
In the seven T20I innings he did play, between October 2023 and January 2024, Jitesh scored quickly, at 147.05, but aggregated just 100 runs. He understands that he didn't do enough when he got his chance.
"A lot has changed since joining the Indian team," Jitesh said. "I'm trying to be more calm than before. By watching the senior players of the team, I always try to learn how to keep myself calm. Now I feel more humble and grounded than before. I am taking each of my practice sessions more seriously than before. In the end, there is no substitute for hard work, and that applies to everyone. Whatever you try to achieve, hard work is the only way that will take you forward.
"Maybe I have made it to the Indian team, maybe one of my dreams has come true, but it is very important to stay grounded. Making a place in the team is a different thing but to remain in the team, three things are very important: stay humble, stay grounded, and work harder than ever."
There was no Jitesh in the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, but he came back soon after, for the T20I series against Bangladesh. But he did not get a game. The way the team management treated Sanju Samson, though, has given him confidence.
"It feels good to see the way the team has backed him [Samson]," Jitesh said. Samson scored 29 and 10 in the first two T20Is, and then hit 111 in 47 balls in the final game, to perhaps buy himself a long rope in the T20I line-up. "The message from Gauti sir [Gautam Gambhir, the head coach] and Surya bhai [Suryakumar Yadav, the T20I captain] is quite clear. They tell us clearly what they expect from any player in the team.
"If a player is being backed today, then it is certain that in the future, when my chance comes, I will also be backed in the same way."
… and there is an IPL auction to think about
Jitesh would very likely have been one of the players retained by Punjab Kings if the mega auction had come a year before. After IPL 2024, though, he has been offloaded - which is not to say the franchise won't want to get him back - with Punjab Kings retaining only Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh from their previous roster.
Again, though, Jitesh isn't looking too far ahead.
"It is a mega auction, so nothing can be said," he said. "A player must be ready to go to any team. But if I don't get a chance in PBKS, then MI [Mumbai Indians] or CSK [Chennai Super Kings] are good options. I like both those teams very much."
After his impressive run in 2022 and 2023, Jitesh was made vice-captain in 2024, and led in a couple of matches too. He wouldn't mind giving it another go if he is asked to.
"I like this kind of responsibility very much," he said. "I have always loved captaincy and am always ready for it. I feel like when I have this pressure on me, I am able to read the match better. If I get this opportunity, I am completely ready for it."
A T20I specialist's red-ball ambitions
For someone who made his first-class debut in 2015, just 18 games in the format suggests a lack of quality against the red ball.
He has played just one game in either of the last two Ranji Trophy seasons for Vidarbha, with a 69 against Gujarat in January 2023 his best effort in these. It was a great effort, to be fair. The top score for his team in the second innings in a match they went on to win by just 18 runs. Opportunities have been scarce, though, and it's not because he hasn't been available. When it comes to the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy or the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, he has been more of a regular for Vidarbha.
"Like every season, this season is also very important for me. If I get a chance, I will definitely try my best to prove my worth in the Ranji Trophy also," he said. "I am looking forward to doing well in the longer format of the game as well. I know that if I am used with good strategy in this format, I can perform. If I get a chance in the middle order or lower-middle order, perhaps I can prove useful."