PBKS stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma was happy following his first captaincy experience, despite losing in Hyderabad. Jitesh was named captain for PBKS’ final game when Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out due to injury and Sam Curran left for national duty ahead of the T20 World Cup. Jitesh won the toss on his captaincy debut, but they did not win the game.
With rain in the forecast, PBKS chose to bat first after winning the toss in Hyderabad. With 97 runs for the first wicket in 9.1 overs, Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh gave Punjab the ideal start. Taide returned to the pavilion, but Prabhsimran carried on with the attack and hit 71 off 45 balls. Rilee Rossouw, who smashed 49 off 24 balls, supported him.
But SRH battled back, ultimately limiting PBKS to 214 runs in 20 overs. They reached the score thanks in part to Jitesh’s 32 off 15 balls.
Before Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi got things going, SRH lost Travis Head off the very first ball of their chase, so it didn’t get off to the best start. In the last over, Abhishek struck for 66 off 28 balls, while cameos from Tripathi, Klaasen, and Nitish Reddy made sure SRH won.
“The boys fought really hard”- Jitesh Sharma
PBKS stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma grinned broadly as he approached the commentators following the game. Jitesh Sharma expressed his pleasure at taking on the captaincy role and praised his team for their outstanding effort during the game.
Despite having a large number of overseas cricketers in the playing XI, Jitesh Sharma added that they played a good match. As Jitesh Sharma clarified:
“It was fun out there. The boys fought really hard, and we enjoyed it a lot. A nice game without the overseas players. The discussion won’t help until you imply on the ground. We have to play according to the wicket and plan accordingly,” said Jitesh.
The Punjab Kings management appointed ace wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma as captain after Dhawan and Sam Curran were ruled out of the competition. Sharma also showed up for the leaders’ pre-tournament photo session.
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