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'Told Dravid sir I want to score big runs. He said at your position, runs don't matter...': IPL star's key revelation
After facing Team India snub, the star batter spoke in detail about his time with the side and his conversation with head coach Rahul Dravid.
Team India's T20I squad for the tour of West Indies was announced earlier this week, a day after former all-rounder Ajit Agarkar was appointed as chief selector of the men's senior selection committee. While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma continue to remain absent from the squad in the shortest format, youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma received call-ups. However, fans noted that one name remained missing from the squad – that of Jitesh Sharma.
Jitesh featured in India's squad in their last T20I series against New Zealand in January earlier this year, but didn't find a place for the WI tour; Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson were named among wicketkeepers in the squad. And in an interview with Cricket.com, Jitesh finally broke silence on his thoughts about the snub with a simple one-liner.
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“Just one sentence, 'God has a bigger plan for me,'” said the wicketkeeper, who represents Vidarbha in domestic cricket.
Jitesh sprung into limelight with his explosive hitting for the Punjab Kings in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League and continued on his performances in this year's edition. Consequently, he was given a call-up for the New Zealand series after Samson faced an injury.
“They (Team India) were quite welcoming. Rahul (Dravid) sir told me that you are doing very well and these are the kind of players that we are looking for. When I told him that I want to score big runs, he told me that at the position you play, runs don't matter, impact matters,” Jitesh said in the same interview.
“The more you contribute towards the win, that will be important for the team. When there's a collapse and you go out to bat around 7-8 overs, the team will be 4-5 wickets down, so you can't do much and just need to believe in your game. You have to take that score to a certain level so that the team can fight for it,” Jitesh further said, recalling Dravid's advice.
