'I would take him to Australia as a second wicketkeeper-batter'- Virender Sehwag on Jitesh Sharma
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag is mighty impressed with Punjab Kings' stumper Jitesh Sharma, and he believes that the uncapped cricketer should be in the mix as far as the T20 World Cup squad is concerned.
Sharma has impressed one and all with his final over flourishes for PBKS this season. The 28-year-old gave another glimpse of his precocious talent during the latest outing against the Rajasthan Royals.
Promoted ahead of Liam Livingstone, Sharma hammered 4 fours and a couple of sixes to finish with 38* off 18 deliveries, lifting his side to 189 in 20 overs.
Speaking on CricBuzz Live after the game, Sehwag heaped high praise on Sharma, stating that if he was the selector of the Indian team, then he'd pick Jitesh as a backup keeper for the upcoming World Cup in Australia.
"He has impressed quite a bit... So should we also include him in the Australia-bound T20 World Cup squad?"
"I am just asking because whoever scores runs, we keep them in the category of potential players for the World Cup. But no doubt, he has impressed me a lot," added Sehwag.
"If I had to select the team, I would take him to Australia as a second wicketkeeper-batter for the T20 World Cup," he said.
Sehwag stated that Jitesh reminded him of VVS Laxman with the six he hit off Yuzvendra Chahal.
Apart from Rishabh Pant, there are a quite few contenders for the elusive wicketkeeper-batters' slot in the Indian team.
The likes of Sanju Samson and Dinesh Karthik are putting compelling cases for a spot in the WC team. But, Sehwag has put Jitesh ahead of all the aforementioned names.
"Ishan Kishan is a wicketkeeper-batter, Rishabh Pant is a wicketkeeper-batter, (Wriddhiman) Saha is a wicketkeeper-batter, but out of all of them, if there is someone who has impressed me the most, it is Jitesh Sharma," Sehwag stated.
Sehwag was particularly impressed with the flair and nonchalant stroke play of Sharma.
He specifically pinpointed the six that Sharma struck off a wide delivery from Chahal over long-on, adding that it reminded him of the way VVS Laxman used to bat against the late Shane Warne.
"The flair with which he bats... He has no fear; he comes into bat and expresses himself. He knows on what ball to play a shot over the covers, what ball I need to play over mid-off and mid-on," Sehwag concluded.
Sharma has thus far played nine games and has scored 162 runs at a strike rate of 167.
 "Yash Mittal")
