Jitesh Sharma to play domestic cricket for Baroda in the 2025-26 season as he confirms his move from Vidharba.
Jitesh Sharma moves from Vidarbha to Baroda ahead of 2025-26 domestic season.
Jitesh Sharma, a wicketkeeper for Vidarbha and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, will play for Baroda in the forthcoming season.
During the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy, the 31-year-old played second fiddle to captain and first-choice wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar and did not appear in any games. He continued to play for Vidarbha’s white-ball teams under Karun Nair’s leadership.
According to reports, the move to Baroda has been planned for a while, and it is thought that Jitesh’s strong relationship with Baroda captain Krunal Pandya—his teammate from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru during their first IPL title victory earlier this year—helped make the transfer possible.
The change might present Jitesh with a fresh chance to establish himself as a first-class cricket regular. Jitesh has only appeared in 18 first-class games in the last ten seasons since making his debut in 2015–16. He has four half-centuries and a modest average of 24.48. It has been over eighteen months since his last first-class match.
Jitesh has established himself in the shortest formats of cricket in recent years, while having little playing experience in red-ball cricket. In October of 2023, Jitesh made his India T20I debut in the Asian Games after making a breakthrough for Punjab Kings. His nine T20I appearances are noteworthy.
Jitesh was a crucial finisher for RCB at the IPL 2025 earlier this year. He scored his first half-century, an undefeated 85, in a must-win match against the Lucknow Super Giants, which helped them place in the top two. In addition to serving as Rajat Patidar’s vice captain, he also filled in as captain after Patidar sustained an injury at the end of the tournament.
The only RTM (right to match) for RCB in the mega auction, Jitesh’s IPL teammate Swapnil Singh, is expected to relocate to Tripura. Swapnil played domestic cricket for Uttarakhand in 2024–25, taking 18 wickets in five games during the Ranji Trophy, however he did not play a single game for RCB. He had low white-ball stats.