India won their second T20I against Afghanistan, bagging the three-match series, after explosive performances by 22-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal and in-form Shivam Dube. India won the match at Indore on Sunday by a comfortable 6-wicket margin with 26 balls left in the innings, chasing down 173 in style at the Holkar Stadium.
The match grabbed extra eyes as it marked the T20I return of Indian star-batter Virat Kohli, for the first time after India’s semi-final defeat to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup. While Kohli shone with a brisk 16-ball 29, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube stole the show with their dominant fifties. | Indore T20I – Scorecard |
Extending his disappointing comeback to the shortest form of cricket, skipper Rohit Sharma went back to the pavilion without getting off the mark for the second successive time during the Indore T20I.
On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, coming in at number five, suffered a similar fate when he was dismissed on his second ball by Karim Jannat.
JItesh Sharma hit 31 off just 20 in India’s first T20I victory, but the margin of errors for the young guns in the T20I side has become lesser amid the intense competition for spots.
Former Indian cricketer Rohan Gavaskar said Jitesh Sharma would be filled with regret after not playing sensibly in the second T20I. Rohan said that Jitesh could have avoided getting out for a duck if he had chosen to play along with the tempo of the game.
“Jitesh Sharma will look at what Rinku Singh has done and will be thinking in the dressing room, ‘I wish I had done that.’. He’d wish he had gone a run-a-ball, not try to be too aggressive, because Shivam Dube was batting fabulously like a dream. He was going to win you the game; there was no danger of us losing the game.” Rohan Gavaskar told Cricbuzz.
SAMSON IN FOR JITESH IN BENGALURU?
Rohan Gavaskar also stressed that this innings by Jitesh might have a serious implication on his place in the XI for the series finale in Bengaluru on January 17. With the series already in their grip, the Indian team might look for some changes in the squad facing Afghanistan on Wednesday and Jitesh Sharma might just be one of those names who will make way for the likes of another keeper-batter, Sanju Samson.
“So what Jitesh will be looking and kicking himself thinking is, ‘I should have done a sensible thing here and taken a single,'” Rohan Gavaskar added.
“Maybe Sanju Samson comes in. He has not got a game yet. He has not played in a T20I since Ireland. So, it is been a while. Maybe you give him a game to see how he goes. But I think you might see Shivam Dube being rested.” Gavaskar added.
Jitesh Sharma is not part of the squad for the upcoming Test series against England and the Punjab Kings batter will have a lot to prove in IPL 2024, considering the intense competition for the wicketkeeper role.
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