Jitesh Sharma’s Asian Games checkl: Meeting Neeraj Chopra, taking the feel of Games village, walking out with other athletes in the opening ceremony

In the past couple of IPL seasons, Jitesh Sharma, the Vidarbha and Punjab Kings wicketkeeper-batter, had impressed everyone with his wide range of strokes and has imposed himself in the finisher’s role. His audacious strokeplay has been endorsed former India cricketers Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag, who want him in India’s T20 set-up.
The 29-year-old has been picked for the 19th Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China. Jitesh says getting selected for the Asiad is going to be a life-changing experience for him and he already has a few things to mark off in his checkl and at the top of that lies a meeting with Neeraj Chopra and walking out with the entire Indian contingent during the opening ceremony.
“Milkha Singh ka movie jaisa vibe aayega jab saare ladke walk karenge. It will be an absolute privilege to walk with the top sportspersons of our country,” Jitesh told The Indian Express.

“I want to meet Neeraj Chopra. He is an idol. He has won an Olympic gold, I don’t think anything can beat that. I want to meet him and will try to talk about his mentality. Playing individual sports is a difficult task. In cricket, you are always surrounded ten people; you always get that moral support. But in an individual sport, you are on your own out there.
“It will be a very good experience to be in the games village with other athletes, have breakfast with them, and train with them in the gym. Understanding their routine and how they got into their business. In cricket tournaments, you don’t get to live those experiences. It will be a life-changing experience for me,” he added.
From not really planning to play cricket to changing his batting style to becoming a power hitter, it’s been some journey. Jitesh never had a coach, and had to learn cricket from watching videos on YouTube; most of them were of Adam Gilchr and Sourav Ganguly. He is again relying on YouTube and has started working on his batting with the desire to become a 360-degree batter, and for this he is binge-watching Suryakumar Yadav’s batting videos and then trying to execute it on the nets.
“I am just trying to observe Suryakumar Yadav. Main unke jitna skilfull nahi hoon (I am not as skilful as him). But I am watching his videos on how he manipulates the field, how he plays those risk-free shots. I am just trying to learn from his batting. Everyone has a different skill set. I am just trying to explore my game and make it 360,” he said.

The other aspect of his game that he is currently working on is his keeping. He said: “I am trying to be calmer when I am keeping. As a wicketkeeper, my feedback is very important for the team. When you are keeping for so long, you can’t bring sudden changes in your skillset. You can do minor adjustments.”
Jitesh had a good season for Punjab Kings in 2022, where he scored 234 in 12 outings with a strike rate of 163.63. He followed it with a superb 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Vidarbha, scoring 224 runs in ten games at a strike rate of 175.00. He made sure that he is not a one-season-wonder, scoring 309 runs at a strike rate of 156.06 while batting at No. 5 or lower in IPL 2023.

“IPL has given me recognition. Life has changed for sure, but nothing drastic. I have started receiving more phone calls and text messages. I see it as a privilege that you are getting recognition. I have seen when you are going through a bad phase, no one wants to talk to you. Getting more well-wishers is a good thing. I am now getting good bats because of my performance. I am a very spiritual guy and I love visiting different temples and because of this recognition, I get entries pretty easily,” he said.
After hitting all the ups and down in his cricketing career, Jitesh feels that his fitness kept him going. “I always wanted to go into defence. I wanted to be an air force officer. I was always a fitness freak.
“In cricket, fitness is a must. Cricket is a physical activity, it’s not Chess. If you are going out to bat, you cannot walk out without wearing your pads. I don’t think there should be any debate regarding fitness,” he said.