Jitesh Sharma recalls his international debut as a replacement of Sanju Samson

In a video posted by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Jitesh Sharma recalled his international debut as a replacement. He narrated how he got the call because Sanju Samson was injured. While speaking about his IPL franchise, he said, “It’s not a trivial matter that I’ve come to RCB”.

Indian cricket reserve bench full of talents

Indian cricket team’s wicketkeeper slot has been a point of discussion ahead of almost all important tournaments since last few years. The retirement of MS Dhoni from international cricket left Indian cricket with a huge void. However, soon people realized that there are so many hardworking and talented keeper-batters out there waiting for an opportunity.

While Rishabh Pant seems to have fitted well in the Test set-up, Sanju Samson and KL Rahul look sorted for limited-overs. Especially after Champions Trophy, KL Rahul is the preferred name for ODI nowadays and Samson for T20Is.

There are wicketkeepers like Dhruv Jurel and Jitesh Sharma in the bench making it a stronger one compared to the contemporaries. But for these people it has been a tough competition. Jitesh Sharma while speaking of the same recalled his sudden international cricket debut.

Jitesh recalls international debut

He said, “I came in as a replacement for player into the Indian team because Sanju Samson had a knee injury. An Indian selector called and said, ‘We are looking forward to having you in the Indian team. Be ready, by evening you will get a call about when you have to leave.'”

Jitesh continued, “I didn’t get a chance to soak in the entire selection process because everything happened very quickly. Just as I reached, the next day I had to go for practice.

I was definitely nervous, my hands and legs became cold. Because to wear that Indian jersey and then Surya bhai was there, Hardik bhai was also there. Rahul [Dravid] sir was the coach at that time.”

Jitesh speaks of RCB love

In the same video, he then talked about the experiences after being picked by RCB. “When I went to play Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, people were screaming ‘Jitesh-Jitesh’, and ‘RCB-RCB’, that’s when I realised that I haven’t gone to a small team. It’s not a trivial matter that I’ve come to RCB.

It was a different feeling because 100-150 people were waiting for my autograph.” He continued, I wasn’t expecting anything like this. I had already played for India before, had done it all but even 2 people didn’t come. That’s when I realised that this franchise is something else,” added Jitesh.

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