‘If I was a selector, I wouldn’t have picked myself’- Jitesh Sharma reflects on T20 World Cup snub

In 12 innings of IPL 2024 batting, Jitesh Sharma amassed 187 runs at a strike rate of 131.6. He opened the IPL with a spectacular pyrotechnics show, hitting 32 runs off of just 15 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

With the Indian team full of wicketkeeper-batters, the 30-year-old acknowledged that he was in the running for the T20 World Cup 2024, but his opportunity did not present itself. KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, and Dhruv Jurel are among the players competing for a berth on the national team in addition to Rishabh Pant. Additionally, Ishan Kishan is undergoing domestic grinding in order to solidify his position.

Jitesh joked that his lacklustre IPL 2024 performance was caused by his obsession with securing a World Cup spot. “When the IPL started, I was thinking a lot about

The World Cup and maybe that’s why I wasn’t able to focus much on the given match,” Jitesh Sharma stated to India TV.

“I accept it without feeling guilty. That’s what it is. I was so focused on the World Cup selection that I was unable to think straight. My batting significantly improved as soon as the team was selected. Then, knowing that I wasn’t on the squad, I was able to focus and score runs, which allowed me to play two or three solid knocks towards the conclusion of the tournament,” he admitted.

Jitesh has made 100 runs at an average of 14.28 and an outstanding strike rate of 147.05. He has played nine Twenty20 Internationals for India. In January 2024, he played his last game against Afghanistan. Even if he were an Indian selector, the right-handed batsman, who finished the 2023 Indian Premier League with 309 runs at a strike rate of 156.06, would have admitted without reservation that he would not have chosen himself for the World Cup.

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“If I had been a selector, I wouldn’t have chosen myself at that time since Sanju bhai was in form and Rishabh Pant had returned and proven himself. Even I would have liked just those two,” he said.