Meet Jitesh Sharma, Punjab Kings batter who replaces Sanju Samson for remaining T20Is against Sri Lanka

India batter Sanju Samson has been ruled out of the rest of the T20I series against Sri Lanka due to a knee injury. During the first T20I in Mumbai on Tuesday, Samson hurt his left knee while attempting to field a ball near the boundary lines.

Sanju dived along the boundary to prevent a Dasun Shanka shot from going to the boundary in the 13th over of Sri Lanka's chase of 163. Samson's knee got stuck in the damp ground as he reached for the ball, ripping a large clump of grass out. Even as bowler Umran Malik looked dejected, the ball went to the boundary.

"Samson was taken for scans and a specialist opinion this afternoon in Mumbai by the BCCI Medical Team and has been advised rest and rehabilitation," a BCCI media release read.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee picked Jitesh Sharma to replace the injured Sanju Samson for the remainder of the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

"Team India wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson has been ruled out of the remainder of the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Samson hurt his left knee while attempting to field a ball near the boundary ropes during the 1st T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Jitesh Sharma as replacement for Sanju Samson," said BCCI in a statement.  

Who is Jitesh Sharma?

Jitesh Sharma, who was born on October 22, 1993 in Amrawati, Maharashtra, is noted for his all-out attacking style at the top of the order. Prior to joining the Punjab Kings, Sharma was a member of the Mumbai Indians, who acquired him in the IPL 2016 auction after a great showing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2015-16.

Jitesh plays domestic cricket for Vidarbha and made his Ranji debut against Odhisa in 2015.

Career

Jitesh has appeared in 176 T20 games and scored 1787 runs at a strike rate of around 148. He has a 30.28 average, a top score of 106, nine 50s, and a solitary 100 to his name. Sharma has played 23 innings in first-class cricket and scored 553 runs at an average of 24.04, with three fifties to his name.

Sharma played 12 innings in last year's IPL and scored 234 runs at a strike rate of 163.64 with the top score of 44.

Sharma, 29, is only the third Vidarbha player to be selected for the Indian Cricket Team, after Umesh Yadav and Faiz Fazal.

India will try to grab an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka in the second T20I on Thursday. The series finale will take place on Saturday in Rajkot.

India’s updated squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.

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