Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel expects Jitesh Sharma to be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper for 2024 T20 World Cup. Notably, India played Jitesh ahead of Sanju Samson in the first T20I against Afghanistan and the keeper-batter repaid their faith with a quickfire 31 off 20 as India won the match by six wickets. However, the Mumbai-born cricketer failed to get going in the second match as he failed to open his tally.
Parthiv stated that the top order is currently stacked with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill in the mix. In the middle order, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya are in contention. Parthiv believes that India might look for a lower-order batter who can keep and Jitesh fits perfectly in that role.
“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,” Parthiv said while talking to JioCinema.
“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,” the 38-year-old said.
The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League will decide the fate of Jitesh. KL Rahul and Sanju Samson are waiting in the wings while a return of Rishabh Pant can’t be ruled out. Pant has not played for over a year after suffering injuries in a car crash in December 2022 but is expected to play for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024. For Sanju and Rahul, the cash-rich tournament will be their last attempt to make it to the squad.