He warmed the bench for entirety of Asia Cup earlier this year.
After warming the bench throughout the Asia Cup 2025, Jitesh Sharma has made a strong start as India A skipper in the Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025. He has notched up a smashing knock in India’s tournament opener against the UAE. Following a jaw-dropping, whirlwind century from India’s young sensation, Vaibhav Suryavanshi (144), the skipper also went on all guns blazing.
The gloveman’s unbeaten 83 runs off 32 balls included eight boundaries and six maximums. This fiery batting display makes him a strong contender to enter the reigning champions’ playing combination for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Previously, the batter had also put up a blistering finishing knock in the Australia vs India 3rd T20I in Hobart. His quickfire 13-ball 22 was laced with three boundaries, striking at 169.23. A successful stint with the maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), also backs up his selection for the upcoming ICC event.
Moreover, Sanju Samson, who is still India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in the T20I format, has found it hard to accumulate runs since his demotion in the batting line-up. The 31-year-old had stitched plenty of blazing partnerships while opening the innings with Abhishek Sharma.
After his spot was taken up by India’s vice-captain Shubman Gill, the Kerala batter is yet to regain his flow at the unusual lower-order batting positions. In seven matches of India’s victorious Asia Cup 2025 campaign, Sanju scored only 132 runs at a below-par strike rate of 124.52.
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Alongside the pulsating knocks from Vaibhav and Jitesh, two timely cameos from Naman Dhir (34 off 23) and Nehal Wadhera (14 off 9) powered India A to a mammoth total of 297/4 in 20 overs. In response, the developing United Arab Emirates (UAE) side could not start their chase on a brisk note.
Gurjapneet Singh and Harsh Dubey have snared two wickets each so far, while all-rounder Ramandeep Singh has also chipped in with the dismissal of Syed Haider.
With an impossible required run rate nearing 60, India are almost set to clinch the first fixture and top the points table with a massive NRR boost.
At the time of writing, the UAE are at 139/5 after 17 overs, with Muhammad Arfan (22 off 18) and Sohaib Khan (61 off 38) at the crease.
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