IPL 2025: From accidental wicketkeeper to match-winner — Jitesh Sharma powers RCB into Qualifier 1 vs PBKS

An accidental wicketkeeper from small-town India, who started out more interested in joining the defence forces than playing cricket. A captain who bats in the lower middle-order, he pulled off a stunning heist for his team. A man who showed ice-cool composure in the face of Herculean odds and overcame them.

No, we are not talking about the man who wears jersey No 7. This is Jitesh Sharma. The way Jitesh blitzed 85* off 33 to take Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) into the IPL 2025 playoffs as one of the top two teams would have made MS Dhoni proud.

Jitesh lived a lifetime in an innings. In 33 balls, he showed his team, and its millions of fans, that sometimes, faith does get rewarded.

“There were 100-150 people asking for my autograph”

Jitesh has played nine T20Is for India in 2023 and 2024. But he discovered what fame meant when he was playing in Alur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, in December 2024, playing the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, for Vidarbha against Mumbai, two weeks after the mega-auction.

“People were screaming ‘Jitesh, Jitesh. RCB, RCB’. That’s when I realised I’ve not joined a small team,” Jitesh told RCB’s Bold Diaries.

He added, “There is something different here. There were 100-150 people in line to get my autograph. I wasn’t expecting it. I had played for India already, and not even two people had come… At that moment, it hit me that this franchise is something different.”

Jitesh knew before the season, before any RCB camp had begun, that this IPL 2025 would be different. And he promised himself that he would play from his heart as much as his brain. The transient nature of players’ association with IPL franchises means they can compartmentalise defeats more easily. Jitesh promised himself that he would take things “personally” for RCB.

The accidental wicketkeeper

A classic example of chaos theory suggests that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in the USA. Or, in Jitesh's case, a small decision triggered a life-changing journey.

As a teenager, Jitesh wanted to join the air force. He signed up for a cricket trial camp because he would get 4% additional marks in his defence exams if he could make it to the state cricket team. He joined the wicketkeepers list because that had the fewest applicants.

The 4% lure was the butterfly. The tornado was Jitesh.

“I had never raised a bat for my fifty”

Before RCB’s humdinger against LSG, Jitesh had never scored a fifty in the IPL. On 49 off 21 against LSG, he reverse-swept Digvesh Rathi into the hands of Ayush Badoni at point. If ever an artist needed an illustration of “a picture speaks a thousand words”, the image of Jitesh sunk to his knees in absolute despair would have been it. He might have never gotten up - except it was a no-ball. In his 53rd game and 46th IPL innings, Jitesh skyrocketed to fifty with an almighty six on the next ball.

He has never batted higher than No 5 in the IPL, and Jitesh had made his peace with being satisfied by 30s.

“I was an opener earlier, and used to hit a lot of 50s and 100s,” Jitesh said. “I wanted to raise my bat once at least, but since I’ve become a finisher, I never got that opportunity (laughs). Getting 20-ball 40s or 10-ball 30s is our fifty. And I’m very happy if the team wins with that,” he said.

As a finisher in IPL 2025, it’s the 85* that has got him the limelight, but Jitesh was quietly spectacular for RCB all through. He has been particularly good at getting fast starts. In the ebbs and flows of T20, a wicket usually slows down scoring. Jitesh has ensured no loss of momentum for RCB. He has the sixth-best strike rate in the first five balls of an innings after the league phase.

First five-ball strike rate in IPL 2025 (min 50 balls)

Everyone apart from Jitesh in this list bats at the top of the order, and most have the advantage of the Powerplay. To do what Jitesh has done is remarkable. It was only fitting that he was finally rewarded with a fifty.

The Dinesh Karthik ‘anna’ hand

Jitesh wholeheartedly credited RCB batting coach Dinesh Karthik for his upswing in fortunes. He was good before this season. Karthik has put him on the path to being great.

“I have never felt so connected to anyone,” Jitesh said. “If he tells me to sweep a 160 kmph ball also, I’ll do it. If I work a few years with him, I think I can touch the limit.”

Jitesh has already extended the limits this IPL 2025 season. He and his team now need two more matches to reach the sky.