Mumbai: Even though they won the Ranji Trophy last season, Vidarbha are set lose one of its star players ahead of the upcoming domestic season. It’s learnt that ‘keeper-bat Jitesh Sharma, who captained the side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy last season to the quarterfinals has decided to part with the Nagpur-based team and will move to Baroda.The 31-year-old Jitesh, who has played nine T20Is for India (100 runs@14.28), was a star performer for IPL-2025 champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (261 runs in 15 matches@37.28, with one fifty and a strike rate of 176.35, including a top score of 85 not out in a league stage match and a crucial cameo off 24 off 10 balls in the final against his former IPL team Punjab Kings. “He wasn’t happy about certain things at Vidarbha, and hence decided to move to Baroda for the next season,” a source said.
At Baroda, Jitesh will his RCB teammate, left-arm spinning allrounder Krunal Pandya, who captains the team, playing alongside him.A white-ball specialist, Jitesh, who made his first-class debut in 2015, did not play in the Ranji Trophy last season. He played the last.of his 18 first-class matches in Jan 2024. He has scored 661 runs in 18 first-class matches, 1533 runs in 56 List A ties and 2886 runs in 141 T20s with a strike rate of 152.29.
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Apart From RCB, Jitesh has played for Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He was a part of the Rohit Sharma-led MI team which won the trophy in 2017.
