Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir with Jitesh Sharma NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik couldn’t hide his emotions while talking about India’s T20 World Cup team in his one minute and 40 second Instagram Reel. He called the omission of Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma “shocking”.Karthik said, “I didn’t see it coming. It just tells you that there is a bit of clarity missing. I feel really bad for Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma.”
India World Cup squad: No Shubman Gill, Jitesh as selectors recall Rinka, Ishan Kishan
Much will be made of Shubman Gill being dropped, but it is equally surprising to see Jitesh Sharma not named in the 15-man squad. The keeper-batsman was the perfect team man. Sanju Samson was the first-choice wicketkeeper, so he warmed the bench during last year’s Bangladesh series without making any fuss. He was shown the door in the next series.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!The Vidarbha batsman has let his bat do the talking in the Indian Premier League. Jitesh scored just 261 runs in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) title-winning season, but it wasn’t the runs that caught the selectors’ eyes – it was his strike rate of 176.35 while batting at No.6 and No.7.These performances helped him get back into the Indian squad for the Asia Cup. T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, whom Jitesh considers his cricketing idol, supported him during the continental tournament.
India’s Jitesh Sharma clears the bails to dismiss South Africa’s Quinton de Kock during the second T20 International cricket match of the India-South Africa series at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
“After the last T20 World Cup, we talked a lot about how to do it. We talked about not thinking about the milestones ahead and watching the journey. It was a completely different post as a cricketer. The way he played in the IPL and domestic tournaments, he did really well and earned his place again,” Suryakumar said of Jitesh’s comeback.Ahead of the Asia Cup, TimesofIndia.com learned that with Shubman Gill back as the opener, it will be Jitesh Sharma who will play in the middle order. But in Dubai, the team management backed Sanju to bat at No. 5 in the batting rotation.Sanju’s middle order experiment failed. Jitesh, on the other hand, worked hard in the nets, waiting for his chance but ended up warming the bench throughout the Asia Cup.
India’s Jitesh Sharma bats during the T20 Cricket International between India and Australia in Hobart. AP/PTI(AP11_02_2025_000201A)
It was in Australia that Jitesh finally got a chance to play. He batted twice in three T20Is – in the third T20I he scored an unbeaten 22 off 13 balls in India’s five-wicket win while batting at No.7 and played his role to perfection.In the recently concluded five-match series against South Africa, he went into bat three times — scoring 10 balls in Cuttack, 27 off 17 balls in New Chandigarh and a no-ball in Ahmedabad. The 32-year-old player was also excellent with gloves.Jitesh did nothing wrong. He was a consummate team man and was probably an easy scapegoat for the management, which is why he was dropped from India’s T20 World Cup squad.
Jitesh Sharma of India bats during game three of the T20 International series between Australia and India at Bellerive Oval on November 2, 2025 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
TimesofIndia.com has also learned that the wicket-keeper batsman was in the team’s plans to lead the playing XI for the World Cup but has now found himself out of the squad. He prepared for match situations where he would only face 5-7 balls, but the designated finisher was comfortably dropped for a top-order option in Ishan Kishan.A lot has happened in the last few hours because few saw these changes coming. It doesn’t matter whether it was due to a combination call or something else, the fact is that Jitesh left his cricketing idol — Suryakumar Yadav — in the lurch.Jitesh has had far too many misfortunes in his career. But this brutal omission, without any explanation, speaks volumes about the “lack of clarity” in the Indian dressing room.
India’s Jitesh Sharma in the warm-up session before the start of the Asia Cup 2025 match between India and UAE in Dubai. (Creimas/Asian Cricket Council via PTI Photo) (PTI09_10_2025_000373B)
Shubman Gill is 26, and with age on his side, he can once again take part in the World Cup – not to forget he also plays two other formats. But for a player like Jitesh, 32, who plays just one format and is an absolute team man, it was a moment to cherish. Instead, it was destroyed and it will take him a while to recover from the grief.
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Earlier this year, in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, Jitesh spoke about his belief in destiny. “Mere Naseeb was inside me. My good people met me. my luck was within me (It was in my destiny. I kept meeting good people. It was in my destiny),” he said about his cricket career.It seems that Jitesh will now have to accept his fate and hopefully bounce back from this setback.
