3 reasons why RCB must groom Jitesh Sharma as a leadership option 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma was set to lead the franchise in their IPL 2025 game against the Lucknow Super Giants before the tournament was suspended for a week. He made the revelation in a video uploaded by RCB on their YouTube page.

The match between Punjab Kings and the Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala on Thursday, May 8, was abandoned midway. The tournament was subsequently suspended the next day after a meeting between the top brass BCCI officials.

Rajat Patidar, the regular skipper for RCB, picked up an injury during their game against the Chennai Super Kings and was supposed to miss the clash against LSG. However the suspension of the IPL will now give an opportunity to Patidar to recover completely before the tournament restarts.

The decision to hand over the captaincy to Jitesh in Patidar’s absence clearly indicates the fact that the wicketkeeper would be a captaincy option in the future, and the franchise might want to groom him as a future leader.

Here are three reasons why he must be groomed as a leadership option:

#1 The wicketkeeper can control the game from behind

The wicketkeeper may not be the designated captain in a team, but he tends the control the field and has a better sense of the game situation. It is the keeper whom the captain depends on while taking the DRS and making several other decisions.

Jitesh has an astute cricketing brain, and in the ongoing tournament, he has been on point with his reviews as well.

He also sets the fields on occasions, which suggests he has a good understanding of the game. He has shown some leadership abilities in IPL18 and should be groomed as a leadership option for the future.

#2 Prior experience of leading Vidarbha in domestic cricket

It was on the back of his lower-order exploits for the Punjab Kings that earned Jitesh an entry into the Indian side in late 2023. He has since gone on to play nine T20Is for the Men in Blue, but failed to cement his spot.

Jitesh was appointed as the captain of Vidarbha ahead of the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and he looked pretty decisive in his decision-making.

Under his captaincy, Vidarbha qualified for the quarter-final before losing to Mumbai in the knockout encounter.

#3 RCB may need another captaincy material with Kohli in the twilight of his career

Virat Kohli has already retired from T20Is, and if reports are to be believed, he has also expressed his desire to retire from the longest format. It is pretty understandable that with Kohli in the last phase of his career, RCB might need a leadership option who can be groomed in his presence.

Jitesh Sharma has shown his leadership abilities from behind the stumps, and if he can be in the vicinity of Kohli and get a leaf or two out of his book, RCB could benefit in the long run. Both Patidar and Jitesh could be the next crop of leaders for RCB in the coming years.