Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel has backed Jitesh Sharma to get a place in the T20 World Cup squad after his recent exploits with the bat lower down the order in international cricket. Jitesh made his India debut in the Asian Games last year but he didn’t get much chance to bat in China, however, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands in the T20I series against Australia and played a couple of impactful knocks.
The wicketkeeper batter has scored 100 runs in 7 T20I innings thus far at an astonishing strike rate of 147.05.
Patel feels that the team management is showing faith in Jitesh as there is a jam at the top of the batting order with multiple options there.
“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,” Patel said on Jio Cinema.
Patel feels that Team India is looking for a wicketkeeper for the lower-middle order and Jitesh fits that bill with his ability to hit big shots right from the first ball.
“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,” he said.
The wicketkeeper batter scored 31 runs off 20 balls in the first T20I against Afghanistan to give a boost to India’s run rate in the chase.
Patel was impressed with Jitesh’s approach in the lower-middle order thus far in his career.
“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.” he added.
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