BCCI selector told Sanju Samson's replacement, serving drinks, 'be ready': 'Look forward to having you in Indian team'

It goes without saying that the Indian cricket team enjoys a depth of talent like none of its contemporaries. With at least five decent candidates for each slot, the level of competition is stiff. If someone like Ruturaj Gaikwad is struggling to break through into the T20I set-up, or a youngster like Sarfaraz Khan can still not cement his place in the Test team, just imagine how intense the race to the top is. One place for which the fight is real is that of India's wicketkeeper. Rishabh Pant is the odds of favourite in Tests, whereas, in T20Is, Sanju Samson has been donning the gloves. In ODIs, the KL Rahul experiment continues to work well, with India recently winning the Champions Trophy.

Jitesh Sharma finds himself in a similar spot. Despite being one of the most promising wicketkeeper batters in the Indian cricketing circuit, Jitesh finds himself on the bench more than in the actual Playing XI. He and Dhruv Jurel possess a bucket full of promise but are currently behind in the pecking order to Pant, Samson and Rahul. It was in January of last year that Jitesh made his debut for India, featuring in the second T20I against Afghanistan in Indore. He did not have a debut to remember, getting out for duck, but the road to his selection deserves a special mention.

"I came in as a replacement for player into the Indian team because Sanju Samson had a knee injury. An Indian selector called and said, 'We are looking forward to having you in the Indian team. Be ready, by evening you will get a call about when you have to leave,'" Jitesh said in a video posted by Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

"I didn't get a chance to soak in the entire selection process because everything happened very quickly. Just as I reached, the next day I had to go for practice. I was definitely nervous, my hands and legs became cold. Because to wear that Indian jersey and then Surya bhai was there, Hardik bhai was also there. Rahul [Dravid] sir was the coach at that time."

Jitesh Sharma and the RCB love

Jitesh has, thus far, played nine T20Is for India, scoring 100 runs with a best of 35. In order to get more chances, Jitesh has pinned his hopes in IPL 2025, where he is currently representing RCB, who picked him for ₹11 crore. Playing for the franchise, as Jitesh mentions, has brought him unparallelled love and admiration, to the extent that it's left him overwhelmed.

"When I went to play Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, people were screaming 'Jitesh-Jitesh', and 'RCB-RCB', that's when I realised that I haven't gone to a small team. It's not a trivial matter that I've come to RCB. It was a different feeling because 100-150 people were waiting for my autograph. I wasn't expecting anything like this. I had already played for India before, had done it all but even 2 people didn't come. That's when I realised that this franchise is something else," added Jitesh.