The biggest benefit of the IPL is that it gives the Indian youngsters a platform to showcase their skills and increase the chances of getting an opportunity to play in the national team.
The former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag is full praises for a young Indian cricketer who is currently playing for Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2023. PBKS played their last match against Mumbai Indians on 3 May which was won by the latter but in this match, Jitesh Sharma impressed everyone with his superb batting.
The match was played at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali and after winning the toss, MI decided to bowl first. There was a time when Punjab Kings was reeling at 95/3 in 11.2 overs but Liam Livingstone (82 runs not out, 42 balls, 7 fours & 4 sixes) and Jitesh Sharma (49 runs not out, 27 balls, 5 fours & 2 sixes) played explosive cricket and produced a partnership of 119 runs for which they faced only 53 deliveries.
Though MI won the match with the help of blistering knocks of Ishan Kishan (75 runs, 41 balls, 7 fours & 4 sixes) and Suryakumar Yadav (66 runs, 31 balls, 8 fours & 2 sixes), still Viru Paaji was quite impressed with Jitesh Sharma.
While speaking in an interview, Sehwag says that he always tells the youngsters to play the ball the manner in which they think is right; they should hit it, leave it or block it because there are simple fundamentals of batting and this is what Jitesh Sharma was also following. Virender Sehwag further said that Jitesh was observing the ball, if it was suited for hitting, he was hitting it or taking a single because a player just can’t leave a ball in the shortest format of the game and he was keeping things simple for himself.
Viru paaji further said that though the wicket was great for batting and the bowling of MI was not strong enough, still Jitesh Sharma worked for those runs and his shot selection was pretty good as well. He says that if today he goes out and plays with under-13 cricketers, then he will also be notable to score runs and he will need to work for those runs, in the same manner Jitesh Sharma also worked for them and he is the player to watch for. Viru paaji also expressed hope of seeing Jitesh Sharma playing for the country in the next one year.
Well played Jitesh Sharma!!!!