AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Apr 9
Jitesh Sharma credits his T20 resurgence to Royal Challengers Bengaluru mentor Dinesh Karthik, who believes the wicketkeeper-batter can evolve into a true “360-degree” player.
“It’s been a great journey till now because in the off-season, I really worked hard with him,” Jitesh said. “I think the whichever shot which I am playing right now is the replica of what he used to play. He is trying to create a new player in me, because he believes that I can play 360 degrees. I am really enjoying myself in this new role.”
Among the things Jitesh has been most excited by is having been able to execute shots he didn’t think he had. And this, he believes, has only been possible because of the team’s backing. On Monday, he hit a high-value unbeaten 19-ball 40 to kick RCB’s innings into top gear in the death overs. It made a massive difference to the end result, with RCB winning by 12 runs.
“While I am playing those shots, I am very happy [with the execution] because I have never tried those shots,” he said “And I am going to execute thanks to all the backing they give me. It’s been a wonderful journey which I am still excited about.”
The off-season Jitesh is referred to are the two high-performance camps Karthik and RCB’s coaching staff, led by Andy Flower, conducted for their Indian players in January and February. Among the things Jitesh worked on was his fineness, an added dimension to his robust power game.
“My confidence doesn’t rely on the score. It always depends on my process and how I train in my practice,” he said. “Because if I have confidence in the end result, then the variables can go up and down. So I mostly keep my confidence high in the practice only.”
Jitesh’s run of form with RCB has been a shot in the arm to his young career.
Last season, Jitesh managed just 187 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 131. The lacklustre season also set his India aspirations back a fair bit.
“I think last year’s performance was my mental thing,” he said about his slump. “I was not mentally in the game at that moment. I was thinking about future things. But right now, when I met Dinesh bhai, he told me that it’s a human error. It’s not rocket science. It does happen to everyone so it’s fine.
“When he saw my batting, the way I bat, how I try to dominate, how I look to take the game forward… I am someone who always looks for the win. I don’t have the craze to take out runs. I have the craze to win matches. He saw and found out there are some shots that are still lacking [in his game], and we’ve started working on that. We are still in the process.”
Jitesh has been a massive point of difference as a finisher for RCB, lending muscle to their lower middle order. Jitesh is among seven batters – colleagues Rajat Patidar and Tim David are also in this list – to average over 40 while striking at more than 150 this season. Asked about this surge, Jitesh underlined how all of it was down to a process they’ve worked on behind the scenes.
“I think we are playing very smart cricket,” he said. “It’s not like we are just going and bashing every bowler [recklessly]. We know everyone’s strengths in the batting line-up and the team management has given a proper role. Like Jitesh Sharma will go after certain bowlers, Phil Salt will go after some. That’s the kind of strategy we have. So we are going very smartly. We are not trying to dominate blindly.”
