Jitesh Sharma, the outstanding wicketkeeper-batter for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has officially transferred from Vidarbha to Baroda ahead of the forthcoming domestic season in 2025-26. The 31-year-old is seeking for a fresh start in red-ball cricket after having limited opportunities with Vidarbha in previous years.
Sharma’s strong friendship with Baroda skipper Krunal Pandya, who was his teammate at RCB, is said to have influenced his choice to transfer there. The two had a fruitful tenure together during RCB’s title-winning IPL 2025 campaign, as he emerged as a reliable finisher and even captained the team in Rajat Patidar’s absence.
Despite being an important member of Vidarbha’s white-ball squads previous season, Sharma did not appear in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. Jitesh was often overlooked in red-ball cricket while Akshay Wadkar took the gloves and led the team. His last first-class appearance was over 18 months ago. Since his debut in 2015-16, the right-handed hitter has played just 18 first-class matches, amassing 600 runs at an average of 24.48 and four half-centuries.
Jitesh Sharma played a crucial role in RCB’s title-winning campaign.
Baroda will be hoping for a turnaround following a mixed 2024-25 season in which they were eliminated from the Ranji Trophy league stage but advanced to the SMAT semifinals and the Vijay Hazare quarterfinals. Meanwhile, following an outstanding season with the Punjab Kings in 2023, he made his India T20I debut at the Asian Games in October 2023, and he has since played nine T20Is. In IPL 2025, he was one of RCB’s greatest players, striking an unbeaten 85 against Lucknow Super Giants in a must-win match to help the team finish in the top two.
Notably, Jitesh is not the only player to leave Vidarbha. Karun Nair, the Indian batter who led the team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and hit over 800 runs in the Ranji Trophy, is planning a return to Karnataka for personal reasons. Meanwhile, Swapnil Singh, another RCB player, is planning to relocate from Uttarakhand to Tripura. Though he did not play for RCB in the IPL 2025, he had a good domestic season in red-ball cricket and competed in the TNPL 2025.
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