It’s never easy to ace the finishing role in the T20s. It’s a demanding task; the batter is always short of time, and mostly faces the best bowlers as they are saved for death overs. Punjab Kings’ Jitesh Sharma grabbed everyone’s attention after responding with brisk cameos in his first three IPL games.

Sent in at No. 4, Jitesh Sharma slammed three sixes for his 17-ball 26 in his IPL debut. In the next match, he struck two fours and as many sixes during his short stay to propel Punjab to a daunting total. Against Gujarat Titans, Jitesh slammed back-to-back sixes facing Rahul Tewatia.

Mayank Agarwal, the PBKS captain, spoke highly of the wicket-keeping batter, who has managed to carve out a spot in this batting-heavy line-up. 

“The big win for us has been Jitesh Sharma. The attitude with which he’s played and the way he’s come out and batted for us is beautiful,” said Mayank.

After making his Ranji Trophy debut in 2015-16, he fell out of favour just after a couple of years. 

“The journey of my career has been like the journey of a person trekking a mountain because. Till 2017, I felt like I was at the peak of the mountain. It doesn’t take too long to fall from there and I had a drop like that in 2017 where I found it very difficult to be in the state team as well,” Jitesh told the Punjab Kings.

Jitesh was acquired by Punjab Kings for Rs 20 lakh. He was also associated with Mumbai Indians in 2016, but never broke into the playing XI. 

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022, the 28-year-old amassed 214 runs at a strike rate of 235.16 for Vidarbha. Overall, Jitesh boasts a strike rate of 142.03, notching eight fifties and a century.